The 2018-2019 Maine scallop season officially kicks off on 20 November when divers will be allowed to get back into the water in the state’s Zone 1 management area.
The season begins on a promising note, after the positive 2017-2018 season showed signs of a rebuilt fishery. The season, which closed in 15 April, saw harvesters collect more than 790,000 pounds of scallops.
Maine represents a fraction of the Northeast scallop fishery, which caught more than 55 million pounds in 2018. Still, despite the smaller numbers, the amount caught was a positive sign that the fishery, once near-collapse in the mid-2000s, has started to rebound.
Maine’s fishery is separated into two categories: Divers and draggers. For divers, the season in Zone 1 begins on 20 November and ends 20 April, 2019, with a 15-gallon shucked scallop limit. The season in Zones 2 and 3 begins 1 December and runs through 13 April, 2019. Zone 2 has a similar 15-gallon limit, while Zone 3’s limit is 10-gallons, including Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River.
One of the biggest changes for divers this season comes from the removal of a provision that capped the daily per-vessel limit of diver-harvested scallops. Now, the daily limit applies to individuals, allowing multiple divers to work from the same boat.
“In a winter fishery with set fishing days, having multiple divers working together improves harvester safety,” the Maine Department of Marine Resources wrote of the change.
For draggers, Zone 1’s 60-day season begins on 10 December, and ends 28 March, 2019. For Zone 2, a 70-day season begins 3 December and ends 27 March, 2019. In Zone 3, a 50-day season begins 3 December, and ends 27 March, 2019.
In addition, certain areas of Zones 1 and 3 are, as in the last season, designated as Limited Access Areas. Harvesting in those areas will be limited to fewer days a week than other parts of the zone, in order to rebuild the resource.
“In Zone 1, those areas include Casco Bay, the Sheepscot River, the Damariscotta River, Muscle Ridge near South Thomaston, and Western Penobscot Bay Area,” Maine DMR wrote. “In Zone 3, the Limited Access Areas include Whiting/Dennys Bays.”
Zone 2 will be using “rotational management,” also to support rebuilding of the resource. Areas open in Zone 2 were closed in previous seasons.
Also in Zone 2, Maine state territorial waters surrounding Machias Seal Island and North Rock will be open to harvest for the entirety of January, providing opportunities for fishers on days other areas in the zone are closed.
Another key change is the removal of drag size restrictions in the Kittery Area, Swan’s Island Conservation area, and Gouldsoboro Bay area. Harvesters can use any drag size as long as it doesn’t exceed the state maximum of 10 feet, 6 inches.
Areas along the coast will be closed when 30 to 40 percent of the volume of legal sized scallops have been harvested, according to the Maine DMR.
“Using information collected during the season from industry and Marine Patrol and from in-season trawl surveys, the Department can determine how much legal-size resource remains on the bottom and when to close areas,” Maine DMR wrote. “The 30-40 percent trigger has been shown to allow the resource to regenerate sufficiently to ensure a commercial harvest in the future.”
