Species that can be sold directly off the boat
Live lobsters & crabs and whole finfish caught under the authority of your commercial fishing permit can be sold off the boat when it is dockside, under the authority of a Retail Boat permit.
All non-histamine finfish and squid must be sold whole from the boat. No filleting or processing of finfish or cleaning of squid is allowed. However, this rule does allow the at-sea gutting of certain species (cod, haddock) to enhance fish quality.
Molluscan shellfish (e.g., oysters, clams, quahogs, bay scallops, shell-on sea scallops, whelks) may not be sold directly to consumers. Molluscan shellfish must be sold to a permitted Wholesale Dealer.
A pilot program allowing for the sale of shucked sea scallop meat off the boat with certain labeling requirements has been established. Contact DMF for more information on the scallop meat pilot program.
Species that cannot be sold direct to consumers
Consistent with FDA regulations, including HACCP requirements, histamine-producing species such as bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bluefish, and mackerel may not be sold directly to consumers off the boat. They must be sold to properly permitted Wholesale Dealers.
Whole Bluefish and mackerel may be sold directly to members of the general public for bait purposes only.
Selling product
Only dockside sales of finfish, bait, and scallop meat are permitted under the authority of a Retail Boat permit. They may be sold directly to members of the general public.
Transporting product
Because the seafood safety issues are less critical when dealing with live crustaceans, state regulations allow only live lobsters & crabs to be transported for sale. Commercial lobster permit holders with a Retail Boat permit may transport (in a vehicle) live lobsters & crabs, caught aboard their permitted vessel, for sale to the public including to persons and businesses that are not retail or wholesale dealers (e.g., restaurants). No other species for human consumption may be transported without additional permits.
If you would like to transport bait, you must obtain a Bait Dealer permit.
Applying for a permit
The Seafood Dealer Permit Application can be downloaded from the Seafood and Bait Dealer website. There is also a link to apply online.
If your vessel is federally permitted to commercially harvest any species, you will likely need a federal dealer permit in addition to the Massachusetts Retail Boat Seafood Dealer permit. Please find information on federal dealer permitting for direct sales on the federal permitting website. Federal dealers have weekly electronic reporting requirements, and reporting federally also satisfies the state reporting requirements
Generally, there is a weekly seafood dealer electronic reporting requirement for all dealers. Compliance with weekly dealer reporting of quota-managed species is important as DMF uses this reporting to monitor annual quota utilization. Any finfish or scallop meat Retail Boat permit will carry these reporting requirements. However, state-only lobster permit holders with Retail Boat dealer permits who only sell live lobster off the boat are exempt from this weekly dealer reporting requirement. Instead, they must report these sales through the commercial permit trip-level reporting program by indicating themselves as the dealer for a given sale. More information on reporting requirements can be found on the dealer reporting website. If you have additional questions on reporting, please contact dmf.stats@mass.gov.