It has come to the attention of the Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) that there is some confusion regarding gear-marking requirements for non-commercial lobster permit holders. Recently buoy marking requirements were amended for commercial lobster permit holders, but please note for non-commercial lobster permit holders requirements remain unchanged, as follows:

All buoys and traps must be marked with licensee’s 4-digit permit #, burned or cut into the surface at least ½” high by 1/8” thick.  Non-commercial lobster pot fishermen must also add the letter “N” preceding their permit #, and a dash (-) with a single digit from 0 to 9 which follows the 4-digit permit #.  The dash followed by the single digit number from 0 to 9 indicates the sequential pot number in the series that the permit holder is fishing.  For example, if a non-commercial lobster pot fisherman with the permit #1234 has four pots in the water, he would brand his pots and buoys as follows: N-1234-1, N-1234-2, N-1234-3, N-1234-4.  A maximum of 10 pots may be set; in the example used above the tenth pot would be branded N-1234-0.

Buoys must be painted with licensee’s approved color scheme.  Wooden lobster buoys may not be used.