Code of Massachusetts Regulations
322 CMR - Division of Marine Fisheries
Title 322 CMR 6.00 - Regulation of Catches
Section 6.19 - Edible Crab Management
Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(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.
(3) Size Limits.
(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.
(6) Cancer Crab Rules for Commercial Fishermen Using Gillnets or Mobile Gear.
(7) Management of Recreational Cancer Crab Fishery
(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: