Information for current Massachusetts aquaculture permit holders

Information regarding permit renewals, harvesting, landing reports, and more.

Yearly permit renewal checklists

Propagation permit

• Check your municipality’s reporting and license renewal requirements. DMF does not survey or certify municipal site license renewals, but a municipal license must be renewed before DMF will issue a propagation permit.
• DMF propagation permit renewals are mailed out in December of each year
  • If you haven’t received your renewal application from DMF by the first of the year, email the DMF Aquaculture Coordinator or call [phone]
  • Renewal propagation permits cost $10
• The Annual Propagation Activities Report (also known as a Seed Report) describing what you did in the previous year should have been received in your renewal package and it must be completed by February 28
• Applications must include the renewal application with all sections completed, the Annual Propagation Activities Report, and the fee
• If your Vibrio logbook has not been received by DMF, your application will not be processed. The logbook is described in the Harvest and handling section below.
• If you didn’t receive your permit in the mail, check your propagation permit status

Commercial fishing permit

• In order to sell shellfish to a wholesale dealer, you must have a commercial fishing permit with a shellfish endorsement.
• DMF commercial fishing permit renewals are mailed out in December of each year
  • If you haven’t received your renewal application from DMF by the first of the year, email the DMF Aquaculture Coordinator or call [phone]
  • Renewal commercial fishing permits cost $40 for Massachusetts residents. The cost increases with added endorsements
  • Complete the Harvesting Affidavit—it should be in your renewal package
  • There is no deadline for shellfish endorsements
• Commercial permit holders may obtain employee transaction cards for their employees to land shellfish under their permit by submitting a Transaction Card Request Form for each employee.
• If you didn’t receive your permit in the mail, check your commercial permit status.  

Wholesale seafood dealer permit

• In order to buy legal-size shellfish directly from a harvester or fisherman, including your own cultured product, you must be a primary buyer and possess a wholesale seafood dealer permit. This permit allows you to acquire, handle, store, distribute, process, fillet, ship, or sell raw fish and/or shellfish, and also allows retail sales from the same single, fixed location. This permit is subject to initial and periodic inspection by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Food Protection Program and requires a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan. 
• If you are a wholesale dealer, renewal application packages will be mailed by DMF to permitted individuals or firms in December of each year. Follow all instructions in the application package and return the application with the required permit fee as instructed in the mailed materials. 
• If you are interested, apply for a seafood dealer permit

Seed purchasing and growout

Purchasing

• Growers must use seed from an approved source if the seed is coming from another waterbody than where their farm is located
• Shellfish hatcheries and nursery operations must be approved by DMF prior to selling seed shellfish in Massachusetts (322 CMR 15). Approved hatcheries and nursery operations have submitted pathology reports to confirm that they are free of pathogens and diseases that could adversely impact receiving waterbodies. 
• Find an approved shellfish seed hatchery
• Note on timing: you submit your DMF propagation permit application and indicate your seed source before the annual seed source pathology results are complete. Therefore, you need to double-check if your seed source passes pathology testing, and if it doesn’t, you need to contact DMF with a request to amend your propagation permit.

Growout
If your operation includes intermediate growout, offsite-culling, offsite-overwintering, or spat collection there may be restrictions and specific permit endorsements that are based on your activities and their location. 

Harvest and handling

There are extensive rules and regulations pertaining to the harvest and handling of shellfish in order to maintain sanitary standards and have products that are safe for people to consume. Information about these protocols is available from several sources, such as the DMF shellfish regulations (322 CMR 16), the Vibrio Control Plan, and the NSSP Guide for the Control of Molluscan Shellfish. DMF provides an overview of the rules in a Basic Harvest and Handling presentation. Below are sections that address some of the priority topics relevant to harvest and handling. 

Tagging
Tags are an important record used to track harvested product through the distribution chain to the consumer. All containers of shellfish must be individually tagged prior to leaving the site of harvest (322 CMR 16.05). The tag shall contain:

• Full name of the harvester
• DMF Commercial Shellfish Permit ID number
• Date and time of harvest (time of exposure of first shellfish harvested)
• Type and quantity of shellstock
• Initials "MA" 
• Shellfish area name and number
• Aquaculture site number, if applicable
• The following statement written in bold capitalized type, “THIS TAG IS REQUIRED TO BE ATTACHED UNTIL CONTAINER IS EMPTY OR IS RETAGGED AND THEREAFTER KEPT ON FILE FOR 90 DAYS.”

There are additional tagging and icing requirements during Vibrio season which are described in the Vibrio Control Plan.

Vibrio 
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. Vibrio naturally inhabits coastal waters in the United States and Canada and is present in higher concentrations during summer. A Vibrio Control Plan is in place to reduce the probability of growth of Vibrio in harvested shellfish and reduce the chance of illness during periods of warmer temperatures that have been historically associated with annual illnesses. Contact your shellfish constable prior to Vibrio season (approximately May–October) to get your Vibrio logbook. The Vibrio logbook must be submitted to DMF at the end of the calendar year.

Disease testing 
The movement of shellfish from one waterbody to another is prohibited in Massachusetts to protect the health of the shellfish resources in receiving waters. For unique cases, DMF may give permission to move shellfish, however specific disease testing protocols by an approved laboratory will be required.

Emergency harvest closures 
There are a number of reasons why areas may be closed to the harvest of shellfish on an emergency basis, such as excessive rainfall, oil spills, harmful algal blooms, or Vibrio or norovirus illness outbreaks linked to an area. These closures are posted by your shellfish constable and as DMF emergency shellfish closure and opening notices.

Monthly landings reports

Harvesters
Commercial permit holders must report trip-level information to DMF each month through the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System (SAFIS). 

• All marine species landed under the authority of your Massachusetts commercial permit must be reported
• Reports must be submitted by the 15th of each month, for the previous month 
• For months without fishing, you must indicate “Did Not Fish” 
• If you have an employee transaction card, report your landings under the employer’s commercial fishing permit

These reports can be submitted electronically by web or mobile, or by paper copy. Learn how these reports work and why they're important. Having difficulty entering your trip-level reports electronically? Our SAFIS instructions can help you enter your information accurately and efficiently.

Dealers
Dealers are required to report transactions each month through SAFIS. Typical data elements include:  

• Fisherman, vessel, and port of landing  
• Landing date and purchase date  
• Species, market, grade, unit (top neck, petite)  
• Disposition (sold, bait, personal use)  
• Quantity (count, pounds, bushels)  
• Price  
• Source (wild-caught, aquaculture, cars, research set aside)  
• Harvest Area (shellfish only)  
• Cultured harvest transactions should use the Aquaculture catch source

These reports can be submitted electronically by web or mobile. More information and training resources are available here.

Harvester-dealers
If you hold a commercial dealer permit and you harvest product from your farm, you must comply with the reporting requirements as both a harvester and a dealer. You must report the sale of your product to yourself. This includes both reporting your landings on monthly trip reports and entering your transactions in SAFIS.  

Maintaining and improving your site

Maintenance and improvement work on your farm are allowed under your permits, as long as the maintenance work or modifications are consistent with your existing permit conditions. If your work is not consistent with existing permit conditions, additional authorizations may be needed.

Questions regarding what is allowed can be directed to your Conservation Commission or one of the following:

Agency	Email	Phone
MassDEP Waterway Program	[e-mail]	[phone]
US Army Corps of Engineers New England District, Regulatory Division	[e-mail]	[phone]
DMF Aquaculture Coordinator	[e-mail]	[phone]