AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine reversed course on previous plans to close a growing bait fishery.
The state backtracked on last month’s decision to place a two-year freeze on the menhaden fishery, the Portland Press Herald reported Thursday.
A legislative committee voted in favor of the Department of Marine Resources’ menhaden licensing bill in 2021 and cut out a section of the bill that would have set a date used to decide who is eligible to fish.
The approved bill would create a two-tiered licensing system in the state: one for those who catch and sell menhaden, and one for personal use. Regulators plan to limit the personal-use catch to three barrels a day if the bill becomes law.
The bait fishery is a crucial alternative source of bait for lobster traps when herring isn’t available. The sharp cut in the herring quota resulted in a huge growth in the menhaden fleet in 2019. Around 50 new boats rushed in to net the state’s 2.4-million-pound quota.
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