Current through Register 1518, March 29, 2024
(1)
Definitions. For the purpose of
322
CMR 6.21, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
Channeled Whelk means that species
known as Busycotypus canaliculatus.
Chute Gauge means an open top
rectangular gauge made of rigid material.
Commercial Fisher means any person
fishing under the authority of a permit issued in accordance with M.G.L. c.
130, § 80, and
322
CMR 7.01(2):
Commercial Fishing for the purpose of sale, barter or
exchange, or to keep for personal or family use any fish or shellfish caught
under the authority of the commercial fishing permit.
Knobbed Whelk means that species known
as Busycon carica.
Operculum is the lid that closes the
aperture of the shell when the animal is retracted.
Recreational Fishing means the
noncommercial taking or attempted taking of knobbed or channeled whelks for
personal or family use, sport or pleasure, which are not sold, bartered or
exchanged.
Shell Width means the diameter of the
shell measured across its greatest width perpendicular to the long axis of the
shell.
Standard Fish Tote means a container
that does not exceed the volume of 6,525 cubic inches.
Trip means that period of time that
begins when a fishing vessel departs from a dock, berth, beach, seawall, ramp
or port to carry out commercial fishing operations and that terminates with a
return to a dock, berth seawall, ramp or port.
(2)
Commerical Possession of
Legal Sized Knobbed and Channeled Whelks.
(a)
Purpose. To
increase spawning stock biomass of knobbed and channeled whelks, the legal
harvest size limit for these species will be gradually increased to correspond
to a size where 50% of female knobbed and channeled whelks are sexually mature.
The asymmetry of these animals and the propensity for their siphonal canals to
break during handling limits the effectiveness of managing harvest with a
traditional shell width or shell length minimum size standards. Consequently,
legal sized knobbed and channeled whelks shall be determined through the use of
a chute gauge meeting the specifications and by applying the methodology in
322
CMR 6.21(2)(b) and
(c).
(b)
Minimum Chute Gauge Width and
Chute Gauge Specifications. The chute gauge used to determine the
legal size for knobbed and channeled whelks shall measure at least six inches
length and by 1½" height. The internal width of the chute gauge shall
be: 31/8" through December
31, 2023; 3¼" during the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31,
2026; 33/8" during the period
of January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029; 3½" during the period of
January 1, 2030 through December 31, 2032; and
35/8" on and after January 1,
2033. No person shall modify the specified chute gauge in any manner that may
affect the gauging of knobbed or channeled whelks. It shall be prima
facie evidence of a violation of
322
CMR 6.21(2)(c) if a
commercial fisherman is not in possession of a chute gauge meeting these
minimum specifications when fishing for or in possession of knobbed or
channeled whelks.
(c)
Methodology of Determining Legal Sized Whelk with the Chute
Gauge. Knobbed and channeled whelks shall be oriented to the chute
gauge with its operculum facing down and laying as flat on the chute gauge as
possible. It shall be unlawful to retain, possess, or land a knobbed or
channeled whelk if it can pass through the chute gauge in this required
orientation with its siphonal canal at any angle to the side walls of the
gauge. The required orientation of the knobbed or channeled whelk to the chute
gage is depicted in the image below:
Click to view
image
1.
Exemptions for Dealers. Notwithstanding the
requirements of
322
CMR 6.21(2)(c), a dealer
permitted in accordance with
322
CMR 7.01(3): Dealer
Permits may obtain, possess and process knobbed and channeled whelks
that are not legal sized if such knobbed or channeled whelks were lawfully
harvested in the jurisdiction of another state. All containers of such knobbed
and channeled whelks shall bear a shellfish tag, as required by M.G.L. c. 130,
§§ 81 and 82.
(d)
Tagging of Knobbed and
Channeled Whelks by Commercial Fishers. Because knobbed and
channeled whelks are shellfish as defined in M.G.L. c. 130, § 2,
commercial fishers who retain such whelks harvested in accordance with the
requirements of
322
CMR 6.21(2)(c) shall place
them in containers that bear a shellfish harvester tag as required by
322 CMR
16.00: Shellfish Harvest and
Handling.
(e)
Prohibitions. Except as provided in
322
CMR 6.21(2)(c)1., it shall
be unlawful for:
1. any person to possess a
knobbed or channeled whelk that is less than the legal size as determined in
accordance with
322
CMR 6.21(2)(b) and (c) for
longer than it is necessary for immediate measurement and return to the
sea.
2. any person to modify the
chute gauge specified in
322
CMR 6.21(2)(b) in any
manner that may affect the method of measurement of knobbed and channeled
whelks.
3. any person to manipulate
the orientation of a knobbed or channeled whelk to the chute gauge so that it
is measured in a manner other than the method of measurement prescribed at
322
CMR 6.21(2)(c).
4. any commercial fisher to not possess on
their vessel a chute gauge meeting the specifications in
322
CMR 6.21(2)(b) when fishing
for or in possession of knobbed or channeled whelk.
5. to possess any knobbed or channeled whelk
in a condition other than whole in-shell, except by a dealer licensed in
accordance with
322
CMR 7.01(3): Dealer
Permits.
6. to process
whelks at any location other than at a facility of a dealer licensed in
accordance with
322
CMR 7.01(3): Dealer
Permits for that purpose.
(3)
Possession
Limit.
(a)
Coastal
Access Permit Holders. For commercial fishers fishing with mobile
gear under the authority of a Coastal Access Permit regulated fishery permit
endorsement, issued in accordance with
322
CMR 7.05: Coastal Access Permit
(CAP), it shall be unlawful to take, possess or land more than 1,000
pounds of channeled whelk and knobbed whelk combined during any single fishing
trip or 24-hour day, whichever period of time is longer.
(b)
Scuba or Hand
Harvest. For commercial fishers fishing with Scuba or hand harvest
gear, it shall be unlawful to take, possess or land a combination of channeled
and knobbed whelk that exceeds one level filled standard fish tote.
(c)
Recreational Fishing
Limit. It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in recreational
fishing to possess or land more than 15 channeled or knobbed whelk combined
during any calendar day.
