Scallop fishermen from Maine were able to get back to work this week after annual catch limits for fishing in federal waters were finally set and the pause on the fishery was lifted.
The start of scallop season had barely gotten underway earlier this month when the temporary catch quotas were met and all fishing was halted until the required annual totals could be finalized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The regulatory agency had been stalled by policy changes under the Trump administration. The NOAA had set a “default” quota, but that 350,000-pound limit was quickly reached. Normally the annual quota runs closer to 675,000 pounds, or 200 pounds per day, per fisherman.
The new quota, which took affect April 21, is 675,563 pounds for all scallops taken in federal waters in the northern Gulf of Maine.
Roughly 50 Maine fishermen who had traveled to Gloucester, Mass., to fish in the lucrative region known as the Stellwagen Bank, were affected when the fishery was shut down just 11 days into the season. The annual scallop fishing season for federal waters runs from April 1 until the end of March next year, or until catch limits are reached.
Maine scallopers who fish in state waters, inside the federal three-mile line, were not affected by the shutdown.