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Paul J. Diodati
Director
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Division of Marine Fisheries
251 Causeway Street, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 626.1520
Fax (617) 626.1509

Massachusetts State Seal
Deval Patrick
Governor
Timothy P. Murray
Lt. Governor
Richard K. Sullivan, Jr.
Secretary
 Mary B. Griffin
Commissioner

May 2, 2012
MarineFisheries Advisory

Notice of Public Hearings:

Commercial Lobster V-Notch Regulations for Southern New England,
Annual Amendments to Recreational Black Sea Bass, Scup and Fluke Rules, and Adjustments to the Recreational Minimum Size and Bag Limit for Gulf of Maine Cod.

Under the provisions of M.G.L. Ch 30A and pursuant to the authority found in M.G.L. Ch. 130 s. 17A & 21, the Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFC) have scheduled two public hearings to accept comments on emergency regulations to amend 322 CMR 6.00, as filed on April 30, 2012 and described below. The MFC will vote to adopt these regulations on a permanent basis at its June 7, 2012 business meeting.

  1. V-Notch Requirements for Lobster Management Area (LMA) 2: As effective May 1, 2012, all commercial lobster permit holders authorized to fish in LMA 2 must, prior to discarding, carve a v-shaped notch in the base of a specific pelvic flipper in all legal sized egg-bearing lobsters.  The v-shaped notch must be between ¼ and ½ inch in the base of the pelvic flipper immediately to the right of the center flipper as viewed from the back of the lobster.
  2. 2012 Recreational Rules for Scup, Black Sea Bass and Fluke:  Adopt the species-specific seasons, bag limits and minimum sizes as described below.

Recreational Scup

Mode Season Bag Limit Size
Private May 1 - December 31 20-fish/angler 10.5"
For Hire May 1 - May 10 and June 25 - December 31
 20-fish/angler 11"
For Hire Bonus May 11 - June 24 45-fish/angler 11"

Recreational Black Sea Bass

Season Bag Limit Size
May 11 - June 24 10-fish/angler 14"
June 25 - October 31 20-fish/angler 14"

Recreational Fluke

Season Bag Limit Size
May 22 - September 30 5-fish/angler 16.5"

     3.  Recreational Gulf of Maine Cod:  As effective May 1, 2012, reduce the minimum size for recreationally caught Gulf of Maine cod from 24” to 19” and decrease the bag limit from 10-fish per angler to 9-fish per      angler.  This rule change will conform regulations in state waters to regulations in federal waters.

Two public hearings have been scheduled:

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at the Joseph Bourne Public Library, 19 Sandwich Road, Bourne, MA 02532.  From 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

Thursday, June 7, 2012 at the MarineFisheries Annisquam River, 30 Emerson Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930.  From 10:00 – 11:00 AM.

Public comments will be accepted until 5PM on Friday June 1, 2012.  Please e-mail all public comments to jared.silva@state.ma.us or send to 251 Causeway Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114.

For further information or to obtain a copy of the full regulations please contact Jared Silva by phone (617-626-1534) or through e-mail (jared.silva@state.ma.us), or visit our website (www.mass.gov/marinefisheries)