Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Definitions.
(1) A crab pot or trap means a box-like
device, made of any material, which is usually square or pyramid shaped either
with sides that fall open to provide ingress, or with sides with openings to
the lower of two inner chambers, the upper being reached through a slotted
baffle, or, if having only one chamber, sides with openings to that
chamber.
(2) Sinking line means
negatively buoyant line which will sink to the bottom of the water column if
not supported by a buoy. Braided steel cable shall not be used as sinking
line.
(3) 'Terrapin Excluder
Device' means a rectangular device not larger than (in either dimension) four
and three-quarters inches wide by one and three-quarters inches high attached
to the end of the entrance funnel of a crab trap.
(4) Carapace width means the longest straight
line width of the body shell, including any spines, or spikes, but not
including claws, legs or other appendages.
(5) 'Claw length' is measured along the
bottom of the claw, from the joint to the lower tip of the claw.
(6) Peeler or shedder blue crab means a hard
blue crab which has a fully formed soft shell beneath the hard outer shell and
the impending shedding process is evidenced by the white sign along the outer
rim of the paddle-like appendages on the crab's fifth pair of legs.
(7) 'Jonah crab bycatch' indicates there must
be fewer pounds of Jonah crab onboard the fishing vessel at all times during a
fishing trip than the pounds of the target species the deployed gear is
targeting. Target species are those species primarily sought by the fishermen
and are the subject of directed fishing effort.
(b) Identification of gear used in taking of
crabs. Gear used in taking crabs shall be identified as follows:
(1) If crab pots or traps are marked on the
surface of the water, they shall have attached to them a floating buoy or
identification marker using sinking line as defined in subdivision (a) of this
section. Braided steel cable shall not be used as sinking line. The floating
buoy or identification marker must be constructed and placed so as to be
clearly visible on the surface of the water. Containers, bottles or jugs
originally designed to contain liquids shall not be used as buoys or markers to
identify the location of crabs pots or traps.
(2) Each buoy or marker attached to a crab
pot or trap shall be of a distinctive color contrasting sufficiently with the
background water color to be visible in daylight for a minimum distance of 100
feet. The number, including any letters, assigned the holder of a crab permit
for the current year at the time he or she obtains a crab permit shall be
painted or otherwise affixed on each buoy or marker in a contrasting color, or
branded on each buoy or marker, in clearly visible characters. The same color
or combination of colors shall be used on all buoys or markers bearing the same
permit number. In addition, all crab pot buoys shall be marked with fluorescent
or reflective paint, tape, or other reflective material or
reflectors.
(3) All crab pots or
traps shall be marked or branded, in characters not less than three- fourths
inch in height with the number, including any letters, assigned the holder of a
crab permit for the current year at the time he or she obtains a crab permit.
If the construction of a pot or trap does not allow it to be marked by
branding, that pot or trap shall be marked by a tag or other device bearing, in
clearly visible and legible characters, the same number appearing on a buoy or
marker used to identify that pot or trap. This tag or other device shall be of
a material that is not deteriorated by sea water and shall be firmly attached
to the pot or trap it identifies.
(4) Crab pots shall not be placed within 25
feet of designated navigation channels, and all floating buoys or
identification markers and lines attached to such pots shall remain outside
designated navigation channels at all times, except that:
(i) crab pots which are directly attached to
the shoreline or a bulkhead may be placed within 25 feet of a designated
navigation channel provided that neither the pot nor any attached lines or
markers are within such channel; and
(ii) crab pots or traps that are affixed to a
vessel with at least one person aboard may be placed within 25 feet of a
designated navigation channel.
(5) Violations of any provision of this Part
shall subject the violator to the penalties fixed by the Environmental
Conservation Law and may result in the suspension or revocation of any crab
permit.
(c) Construction
of escape panels in crab pots or traps.
(1)
Crab pots or traps made of any material other than untreated natural wood shall
contain on a side of the pot, but not the bottom, an escape panel, which when
open, will provide an unobstructed oval or rectangular opening of not less than
six by four inches in length and height. If this panel is constructed of wood,
it shall be untreated natural wood not more than three-eighths of an inch
thick. If the panel is constructed of any material other than untreated natural
wood, it shall be hinged to open. The panel shall be hinged in such a manner
that upon degradation of the material keeping the panel closed, the panel is
released to produce an opening which is not blocked or otherwise obstructed by
the panel material. Hinged panels shall be held in the closed position with
either untreated, uncoated ferrous wire not more than three thirty-seconds of
an inch in diameter or an untreated natural fiber such as cotton, sisal, hemp
or manila not more than three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. The door or
the side panel (which makes up the door) may serve as the escape panel if the
door or side panel (which makes up the door), including any latching mechanism
for the door, is fastened to the pot with the degradable materials listed
above. At least three sides of the door or side panel must be unattached when
the material degrades. If the pot or trap is constructed of nylon,
polypropylene, or any other synthetic fiber mesh netting placed over the frame,
the escape panel may be made by having a section of the mesh netting on the
outside of the parlor section comprised of an untreated natural fiber which
when rotten out or deteriorated will leave an opening of at least the size
specified for an escape panel in this subdivision.
(2) No person shall set or place a crab pot
or trap in the water of the State unless such pot or trap is equipped with an
escape panel of the minimum size specified in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision, except that no escape panel shall be required for crab pots or
traps with sides that fall open to provide ingress.
(d)
(1) A
terrapin excluder device, as defined in paragraph 44.2(a)(3) of this section,
must be used on all non-collapsible, Chesapeake-style crab pots or traps that
are fished in the areas detailed below:
(i)
within the bays, harbors, coves, rivers, tributaries and creeks that enter into
Long Island Sound;
(ii) within the
harbors, coves, ponds, rivers, and creeks that enter into Flanders Bay, Great
Peconic Bay, Cutchogue Harbor, Little Peconic Bay, Hog Neck Bay, Noyack Bay,
Southold Bay, Shelter Island Sound, Pipes Cove, Greenport Harbor, Orient
Harbor, Hallock Bay, Northwest Harbor, Gardiners Bay, Napeague Bay and Fort
Pond Bay;
(iii) within the rivers,
tributaries, creeks and basins that enter into Jamaica Bay, Hempstead Bay,
South Oyster Bay, Great South Bay, Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay on the south
shore of Long Island;
(iv) within
the creeks and tributaries that enter into Raritan Bay, Arthur Kill and Kill
Van Kull surrounding Staten Island; and
(v) within the tributaries and creeks of the
Hudson River that lie within the marine and coastal district, as defined in
Environmental Conservation Law 13-0103, including the waterways within Piermont
marsh. 6 NYCRR 44.2(d)(2) and (3) are amended to read as follows:
(2) The terrapin excluder device,
as defined in paragraph 44.2(a)(3) of this section, shall be securely fastened
inside each funnel to effectively reduce the size of the funnel opening to no
larger than four and three-quarters inches wide and one and three-quarters
inches high.
(3) If the department
determines that mortality of diamondback terrapin ('Malaclemys terrapin') in
blue crab pots is causing a decline in the terrapin population of a given water
body or area that is not listed in paragraph (d)(1) of this Section, the
department may by order mandate use of terrapin excluder devices in such areas.
The Director, Division of Marine Resources, is authorized to issue orders to
designate areas in which terrapin excluders are required pursuant to this
section.
(e) Size
limits.
(1) Blue crab size limits.
No person shall possess or land any blue crab ('Callinectes
sapidus') with a carapace width less than four and one half inches in length
for hard shell blue crabs, three and one half inches in length for soft shall
blue crabs, and three inches in length for peeler or shedder blue crabs.
(2) Jonah crab size limits:
No person shall possess or land any whole Jonah crab
('Cancer borealis') with a carapace width less than four and three quarters
inches in length.
(f) Permit holders may possess or land whole
Jonah crabs or may remove claws at sea, keeping the claw and returning the crab
to the water. If the permit holder is taking more than a five gallon bucket
full of claws, those claws must meet a minimum size limit of two and
three-quarters inches claw length. If five gallons or less of detached claws is
possessed or landed, there is no minimum claw length. Only whole Jonah crab may
be possessed or landed recreationally.