- Division of Marine Fisheries
Below find the changes made to DMF fishing rules by regulation, emergency action, and in-season adjustment from January 1–June 30, 2024. Regulatory changes follow an extensive public process and remain in effect permanently unless otherwise amended; emergency actions go into effect immediately upon adoption without public comment but for a period of 90 days only (unless extended on a permanent basis following the public process); and in-season adjustments go into effect immediately upon adoption after a truncated public process but affect that calendar year only.
Recreational Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock (322 CMR 6.03). DMF matched federal rules for recreational Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and haddock. For GOM cod, the recreational fishing season is September 1–October 31 with a 1-fish bag limit and 23" minimum size. This increases the minimum size by 1" compared to last year. For GOM haddock, the recreational fishing season is April 1–February 28 with a 15-fish bag limit and 18" minimum size. This eliminates the split mode management approach taken last year by managing for-hire vessel and private anglers under uniform rules, rather than having private anglers be subject to a 10-fish bag limit at a 17" minimum size.
Commercial Striped Bass (322 CMR 6.07). In response to a coastwide quota reduction, recent fishery performance, and enforcement and compliance concerns, DMF: (1) eliminated Monday as an open fishing day; (2) reduced the number of open fishing days to start the season from three to two (Tuesdays and Wednesdays); (3) added Thursday as an open fishing day on August 1 should more than 30% of the quota remain available; and (4) required dealers to be present and tag fish immediately upon primary purchase from a commercial fisher.
Recreational Striped Bass Filleting (322 CMR 6.07). DMF filed emergency rules affecting the filleting of recreationally caught striped bass in response to Addendum II to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. In the for-hire fishery, operators and crew may continue to fillet lawfully sized striped bass for patrons; however, the racks of all filleted striped bass must now be retained through the end of the trip in a manner whereby they are measurable. No patron may possess more than two striped bass fillets and each fillet must have at least two-square inches of skin present. For all other recreational fishers, the emergency rule prohibits the filleting of striped bass at sea or along any shoreside location, except for immediate and complete consumption. However, the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission recently approved a final regulation to go into effect later this summer to allow the shoreside filleting of striped bass by all anglers once all fishing has concluded, subject to a two fillet limit each with a two-square inch patch of skin .
Commercial Summer Flounder (322 CMR 6.22). In response to a coastwide quota reduction and recent fishery performance, DMF: (1) reduced the winter fishery (January 1–April 22) trip limit from 10,000 pounds to 5,000 pounds; (2) adopted a new trip limit trigger for the summertime fishery (April 23–September 30) whereby the trip limits reduce from 600 pounds to 400 pounds for net fishers and from 400 pounds to 250 pounds for hook fishers should 75% of the annual quota be taken before August 1; and (3) reduced the fall fishery (October 1–December 31) trip limit from 10,000 pounds to 5,000 pounds while also increasing the trigger for this elevated trip limit from 5% of the quota remaining after September 30 to 10% (otherwise 800 pounds). DMF also renewed the Consecutive Daily Trip Limit program that allows vessels participating in the summertime mixed species trawl fishery south of Cape Cod to possess and land two days’ trip limits of summer flounder and other commonly caught species (e.g., horseshoe crabs, whelks, black sea bass) subject to conditions.
Recreational Summer Flounder (322 CMR 6.22). For 2024, there was a mandate to reduce coastwide recreational summer flounder harvest by 28%. To achieve this in Massachusetts, DMF increased the minimum size limit for vessel-based anglers by 1" (from 16.5" to 17.5") and shortened the season for all anglers by nine days (from May 21–September 29 to May 24–September 23). The possession limit remained 5 fish for all anglers, and the minimum size limit 16.5" for shore-based anglers.
Commercial Whelk Minimum Size (322 CMR 6.21). DMF paused scheduled increases to the whelk gauge for a period of three years (2024–2026). The purpose of this pause is to provide the industry with economic relief while the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology conducts a management strategy evaluation that may be used to inform future management.
Recreational Scup (322 CMR 6.27). For 2024, there was a mandate to reduce coastwide recreational scup harvest by 10%. This was achieved on a regional basis among Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York through a 1/2" increase to the minimum size limit for vessel-based fishers (10.5" to 11"). In Massachusetts, this resulted in a May 1–December 31 open fishing season with a 30-fish bag limit and an 11" minimum size limit for vessel-based fishers and a 9.5" minimum size limit for shore-based fishers. The for-hire sector maintained its May 1–June 30 “bonus season” whereby fishers on for-hire trips have a 40-fish bag limit.
Recreational Black Sea Bass (322 CMR 6.28). DMF adjusted the recreational fishing season for black sea bass so that it would continue to open on the third Saturday of May. This resulted in an open fishing season of May 18 through September 3 with a 4-fish bag limit and 16.5" minimum size limit.
Commercial Horseshoe Crab Management and Spawning Protections (322 CMR 6.34). DMF implemented a series of new horseshoe crab management regulations for 2024. Foremost is a complete ban on harvest by all sectors from April 15–June 7 to protect spawning horseshoe crabs. DMF also adopted a uniform 300 horseshoe crab trip limit for all commercial fishers participating in the limited entry bait fishery regardless of the gear type; regulations previously allowed a 400-crab limit for hand harvesters. This trip limit automatically increases to 400 horseshoe crabs should more than 50% of the quota remain available on August 1 and automatically reduces to 200 horseshoe crabs should 80% of the quota be taken before September 15. Lastly, DMF adopted a state regulation to match federal prohibitions on harvesting horseshoe crabs within the boundaries of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Smooth Dogfish Trip Limit (322 CMR 6.37). DMF increased the smooth dogfish trip limit from 100 pounds to 300 pounds by regulation. DMF had similarly increased the trip limit in 2023 through an in-season adjustment.
Commercial Menhaden (322 CMR 6.43). DMF adopted several adjustments to its commercial menhaden management rules in response to fishery performance in 2023. First, the directed purse seine fishery opening date was moved up to May 15 (formerly June 15); this did not alter the June 1 date to access the inshore restricted areas with nets. Second, the limited entry trip limits were further amended with two quota-use provisions: (1) for the 50% quota use trigger that drops the trip limit to 25,000 pounds, should this not occur until after August 31, the trip limit will remain at 120,000 pounds through 90% quota use; and (2) if more than 10% of the quota remains on October 15, the trip limit will increase to 360,000 pounds with a requirement the vessel call into DMF at least 48-hours prior to landing.
Commercial Mackerel Trip Limits (322 CMR 6.44). DMF adopted a new state-waters commercial trip limit for Atlantic mackerel. The trip limit starts at 5,000 pounds and is reduced to 2,500 pounds once 80% of the annual federal mackerel quota is taken. This matches the federal open access trip limit. Vessels may possess non-conforming quantities of mackerel provided they were lawfully caught in another jurisdiction and all gear is stowed and no fishing is occurring.
Permitting (322 CMR 7.00). DMF made several revisions to its commercial permitting regulations. First, commercial fishers may now display their permit electronically, rather than having to produce a hard copy. This change is occurring now that DMF has transitioned to a new permitting system that will begin to issue commercial fishing permits in a PDF format. Second, DMF has modernized the definition of “immediate family” to be inclusive of step and adoptive relationships, and will accommodate the transfer of latent (but otherwise transferable) permits among immediate family members. Lastly, DMF has lowered the transferability standards for summer flounder, black sea bass, and tautog regulated fishery permit endorsements. Whereas previously these endorsements would have had to been actively fished four out of the past five years to be transferable, now they only need to be actively fished two out of the past five years. This was done to enhance the transferability of these endorsements to allow existing commercial fishers to build more diverse permit portfolios and to accommodate new entrants.
Commercial May Groundfish Closure (322 CMR 8.05). DMF reduced the spatial extent of the May commercial groundfish closure by moving the southern boundary of the closure north from 42°20' N latitude (Boston) to 42°25' N latitude (Nahant). This action was taken in response to a request from a commercial gillnetter to provide additional access to available flounder resource without affecting known seasonal cod spawning aggregations. The northern boundary and seaward closure boundaries remain the maritime border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire and the state-federal waters line, respectively.
Shellfish Harvest and Handling (322 CMR 16.00). Several adjustments were made to the state’s shellfish harvest and handling regulations for 2024. DMF clarified that only ice made from approved sources may be applied to shellfish for any purposes. Approved sources of ice include ice made from fresh potable water and ice made from seawater taken from shellfish growing areas classified as Approved or Conditionally Approved and in the open status. DMF adopted less prescriptive oyster icing standards during the Vp Control Season. Rather than having to surround oysters with specific dimensions of ice, the rules now require oysters or bags thereof to be completely and continuously covered. Additionally, primary buyers may take on the burden of icing oysters should the oysters be landed and sold within the time-to-icing window. DMF is refining the shellfish tagging regulations to make clear that the harvester tag must include the most specific alpha-numeric sequence for the shellfish growing area. DMF has also adopted a state-wide prohibition on harvesting shellfish at night, rather than relying on a myriad of state and local rules to accomplish this. Lastly, to accommodate congestion at landing sites, DMF has codified an accommodation to allow the primary sale of shellfish at approved municipally managed lots.
