- Division of Marine Fisheries
The Massachusetts Lobster Gear Relief Program for Dual Permit Holders was created to help defray the cost of requiring two sets of fishing gear to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The Massachusetts Legislature allocated $500,000 for eligible Massachusetts commercial lobster permit holders pursuant to c. 126 of the Acts of 2022. Due to fisheries management requirements, commercial trap fishers are subject to different buoy line marking requirements based on the jurisdiction where the gear is being fished. This creates a unique problem for trap fishers who have a single fishing business authorized to fish trap gear in both state and federal waters (dual permit holders). Effectively, these permit holders are now required to alter their buoy lines when moving trap gear from state to federal waters or vice versa. This may be accommodated by either adding or removing marks and weak points from the buoy line when moving the gear from one jurisdiction to another or more likely, carrying separate buoy lines marked and configured for each jurisdiction and then removing and replacing buoy lines when gear is moved across jurisdictional boundaries.
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries worked with the Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts in cooperation with the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association to efficiently distribute these funds to eligible fishers. To be eligible for this program lobster fishers must have had both state and federal lobster trap permits in 2022 and renewed or intended to renew both state and federal lobster trap permits for 2023, in addition to a history of ordering MA/EEZ tags. Catch report data from 2021 was used to show proof of dual fishing and the number of traps fished. There were 162 eligible lobster fishers in this program, 155 qualified for the maximum tier ($3,025) of funding, and seven qualified for the minimum tier ($1000) of funding. Maximum and minimum tiers were based on the number of traps historically dual-fished, and the amounts per tier were determined by the available funds dispersed across the eligible applicants. Checks were mailed out by the Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts on the week of June 5, 2023.
By Amanda Meli, Grants Coordinator
