(1)
Definitions. For the purpose of 322 CMR
6.19, the
following words shall have the following meaning:
Asian Shore Crab means that species of
crustacean known as Hemigrapsus sanguineus.
Blue Crab means that species of
crustacean known as Callinectes sapidus.
Cancer Crab means that genus of
crustacean that includes Jonah crab (Cancer borealis) and rock
crab (Cancer irroratus).
Commercial Fisherman means any person
who holds a commercial coastal or offshore lobster permit, issued by the
Director in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, §§ 37, 38 and 80, and
322 CMR
7.01(2): Commercial
Fisherman Permits,
322
CMR 7.03: Coastal Lobster Permit and
Trap Allocation Transfer Programs and
322
CMR 7.08: Offshore Lobster Fishery
Control Date and Moratorium, to take, possess and land lobsters and
edible crabs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the purpose of sale,
barter, or exchange or keep for personal or family use any edible crabs,
including Cancer crabs, taken under the authority of the commercial coastal or
offshore lobster permit.
Dealer means wholesale or retail
seafood dealer permitted by the Director pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80,
and
322 CMR
7.01(3): Dealer
Permits.
Director means the Director of the
Division of Marine Fisheries or their designee.
Edible Crab means blue crabs, Cancer
crabs, and other native species of crabs that are suitable for human
consumption. This shall not include species of non-native crabs including, but
not limited to, the European green crab or the Asian shore crab.
Gillnet means any anchored vertical
wall of webbing that is buoyed at the top and weighted at the bottom and is
designed to capture fish by entanglement, gilling or wedging.
Green Crab means that species of
crustacean known as Carcinus maenas.
Incidental Catch means fish, shellfish
or other marine species, taken by a gear that is not the primary species
targeted by that gear.
Jonah Crab means the species of
crustacean known as Cancer borealis.
Mobile Gear means any moveable or
encircling fishing gear or nets which are towed, hauled or dragged through the
water for the harvest of fish including, but not limited to, pair trawls, otter
trawls, beam trawls, midwater trawls, Scottish seines, Danish seines, pair
seines, purse seines or shellfish dredges.
Open or Collapsible Trap means any
collapsible device constructed of wire or other material that is fished in an
open configuration until retrieved.
Recreational Fisherman means any
person who takes, possesses or lands edible crabsin the Commonwealth for
personal or family use, sport or pleasure, which are not to be sold, traded or
bartered.
Rock Crab means that species of crab
known as Cancer irroratus.
Trap means any lobster trap, modified
lobster trap, fish pot, fish trap, conch pot, scup pot or other, other than
nets, that is five or six sided, placed on the ocean bottom, and designed to
catch lobsters, crabs or finfish.
(2)
Permit
Requirements.
(a)
Commercial. A commercial coastal lobster permit,
issued by the Director in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130 §§ 2, 37, 38
and 80, and
322 CMR
7.01(2):
Commercial
Fisherman Permits and
322
CMR
7.03:
Coastal Lobster Permit and
Trap Allocation Transfer Programs, is required to retain, possess, or
land edible crabs by any method or gear in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
for the purpose of sale, barter, or exchange.
(b)
Non-commercial.
A non-commercial lobster and edible crab permit, issued by the Director in
accordance with M.G.L. c. 130 § 38, and
322 CMR
7.01(4)(b)2., is required to
fish for edible crabs with trap gear or retain, possess, or land edible crabs
taken by trap gear in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts for personal or familial use and which are not to be sold,
traded, or bartered. No permit is required to fish for, retain, or land edible
crabs taken by hand, handline, dip net, or open and collapsible
trap.
(3)
Size Limits.
(a)
Blue Crabs. No person shall take, offer for sale, or
possess at any time any blue crab measuring less than five inches across the
shell from tip to tip of the posterior-most, longest spines along the lateral
margins of the carapace.
(b)
Jonah Crabs. Commercial fishermen and dealers shall
not take, possess, or land Jonah crabs that have a carapace width less than
43/4 inches.
(c)
Mutilation. The mutilation of any edible crab
regulated by a size limit which affects its measurement shall be prima
facie evidence that the edible crab was or is less than the required
length.
(d)
Disposition. Commercial and recreational fishermen
shall not land any parts of a Cancer crab other than a whole Cancer
crab.
(4)
Egg
Bearing Crabs. It shall be unlawful for any person to take,
possess, or land any Cancer crab or blue crab that is egg bearing, from which
eggs have been removed, or has come in contact with any substance capable of
removing eggs.
(5)
Cancer Crab Rules for Commercial Fishermen Using Lobster Trap
Gear.
(a) Commercial fisherman
are prohibited from setting any lobster trap gear to take or attempt to take
Cancer crabs, unless the lobster trap gear complies with the applicable:
1. trap gear marking regulations at
322 CMR
4.13:
Trap Gear Marking and Maximum
Trawl Length;
2. lobster
gear restrictions at
322 CMR
6.02(1);
3. lobster trap limits or allocations at
322
CMR
6.13;
4. lobster trap tag requirements at
322 CMR
6.31(a); and
5. protected species regulations at 322 CMR
12.00:
Protected Species.
(b)
Catch Limits.
For commercial fishermen fishing exclusively with lobster trap gear in
accordance with 322 CMR
6.19(5)(a), there shall be no catch, possession or
landing limit for Cancer crabs.
(6)
Cancer Crab Rules for
Commercial Fishermen Using Gillnets or Mobile Gear.
(a)
Incidental Catch
Limit. Commercial fishermen fishing with gillnets or mobile gear
may possess and land an incidental catch of up to 1,000 Cancer crabs per
calendar day or per trip, whichever duration is longer. It is unlawful at any
time for the incidental catch of Cancer crabs to exceed 50% the catch in weight
of other species onboard.
(b)
Catch Limit Exemption. The incidental catch limit at
322 CMR
6.19(6)(a) shall not apply to any commercial fisherman who has obtained
rock crabs from lawfully permitted dealers for the purpose of use as
bait.
(7)
Management of Recreational
Cancer
Crab Fishery
a.
Possession
Limits. It shall be unlawful for a recreational fisherman to take,
possess or land more than 50 Cancer crabs per calendar day or
possess more than 50 Cancer crabs while fishing. This limit
shall not apply to any fisherman who has obtained rock crabs from lawfully
permitted dealers for use as bait.
b.
Restrictions on the Use of
Traps. A recreational fisherman may use traps to catch
Cancer crabs provided the traps used to take or attempt to
take
Cancer crabs comply with the recreational lobster trap
restrictions at
322 CMR
6.02(3).
(8)
Blue Crab
Possession Limits. It shall be unlawful for any recreational
fisherman or commercial fisherman to take, possess, or land more than 25 blue
crabs within a 24-hour period.
(9)
Night Closure. It shall be unlawful for any person to
tend, lift, raise, or draw any trap or to take edible crabs from a trap from
one-half hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise. This shall not apply to
the taking of edible crabs by hand, handline, dip net, or open and collapsible
trap.
(10)
Prohibitions
on the Taking of Blue Crabs. It shall be unlawful to:
(a) Retain any blue crabs caught in trap
gear.
(b) Set or haul traps for the
purpose of catching blue crabs.
(c)
This shall not apply to blue crabs caught while actively fishing with open or
collapsible traps.
