Tribal Claim Causes Commercial Fishing Dispute Off Maine Coast
A battle may be brewing between federal fisheries regulators and members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, who contend that they are not subject to federal fisheries management laws.
Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded a Maine-based fishing vessel in Nantucket, Mass., after it returned from fishing for Atlantic sea scallops inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Fishing inside the EEZ — the waters out to 200 miles offshore — is regulated by the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation and Management Act administered primarily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service.
According to Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner George Lapointe, when the vessel came into port, it had 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of scallops on board. What the vessel did not have on board was both the electronic vessel monitoring system (VMS) device required to be installed on boats scalloping in federal waters or the federal permit required to fish for scallops in the EEZ.
Coast Guard officials reported that the master of the vessel admitted he did not have a federal Atlantic scallop fisheries permit. Instead, the master displayed “a document purporting to provide authorization from the Passamaquoddy Tribe” to fish in federal waters.
The Coast Guard issued a pair of violations to the vessel, which the Coast Guard has yet to identify publicly, that should prevent it from fishing in the EEZ until the violations are resolved.
The Nantucket incident appears to be the thin end of what may be a growing wedge. Lapointe said that the Maine boat, relying solely on its Passamaquoddy license, had previously landed scallops taken from an area in the EEZ that is closed to fishing.
Filed Under: Crimes • Environmental • News
