An emergency closure of a section of Cobscook Bay to scallop fishing just two weeks into the season has many questioning the health of the industry and the management practices put in place by the Department of Marine Resources.
“I have not see it this bad; it’s terrible” says Roger Preston of Roque Bluffs who has been fishing in Cobscook for decades.
On December 30, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) released a closure statement, “In an effort to protect Maine’s remaining scallop resource from being damaged beyond its ability to recover, Acting Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher has enacted an emergency closure of East and South Bays in Cobscook Bay effective Monday Jan 2, 2012. According to Keliher, “this is an attempt to strike a balance between the protection of the remaining resource and the need for local fishermen to retain some fishing opportunity during the remainder of the season.” Keliher said that the action was prompted by “calls from fishermen reporting large numbers of sub-legal scallops, dock samplings and increased citations of undersized meat counts” .
Cobscook Bay in eastern Washington County is “the most productive scallop territory in the state,” according to Kevin Kelly, DMR scallop scientist. A 2010 survey conducted by Kelly of the bay’s resource, released in August 2011, suggested to many a promising 2011-12 harvest. “Cobscook Bay had the highest amount of harvestable (greater or equal to 4″ shell height) biomass yet observed for this stratum. Meat weights in relation to shell height was greater than the previous year,” reads the report. What the fishermen found when the season opened on Dec 17, was something far different.
Kelly clarified that, despite the release date, “the report reflected conditions in 2010, prior to the 2010-2011 season, not this year.” He does feel, however, that the resource is not being optimized “We have lots of scallops in the area, but we are not letting them grow,” he says.
Commenting on the recent ruling, Cobscook Bay Fishermen’s Association president, Scott Emery says he would have “liked to see the whole bay closed down”¦The season is too long for what there is. There is too much effort on it. If the populations everywhere are as bad as DMR says, why not shut the whole state and do what is right; whatever it takes?”
Others think it is time to “open up the closed waters,” referring to Whiting Bay which has been closed since 2009. Matt Day of Bucks Harbor was among the 200 fishermen who attended a public meeting in Whiting hosted by the DMR a few days before the closing. “We just wanted two days a week in those areas,” he said. Some have hinted that a petition is circulating to request an emergency opening.
In general, however, State Representative David Burns, who was also at the Whiting meeting, believes that fishermen are in support of the closure. He says that, “nearly all the people who have contacted me are asking that the closures run their course,.”
Despite the support, there are those who are concerned about the ongoing impacts of a closure. Emery worries about a “fishing derby effect” when the closed areas are re-opened and the mobile fleet arrives. “I would love to see it zoned, something like they do with the lobster fishery,” he says.
Tom Pottle, another local fishermen, agrees. “Fishermen need to be responsible in the areas that they live, if they do manage it well, the resources will provide for their families.” He was discouraged in 2010 when a legislative bill, LD932, to establish a system of area management for the state’s scallop industry, did not gain support.
In looking ahead to the 2012-2013 season, Keliher understands that safety and resource pressure are concerns in newly reopened waters, especially in Cobscook Bay. “We will be working with the Scallop Advisory Council (SAC) to decide how to re-open. It may include limiting days, controlling the number of boats, or other mechanisms, even a lottery.”