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>> I've been reading about American East coast diving and I allways see
>> these pictures of divers with gigantic lobsters that they found on the
>> wrecks they dive.
>>
>> How does it work? Do you need a permit? Who is elligible? Is there quotas,
>> limits and a lobstering season?
>In NY and NJ divers do not need a permit and can take lobsters any time
>but they must be of a minimun size. New England states are different, In
>Mass. divers need to have a permit and the number needs to be displayed
>on the SCUBA tank.
A while back on the dc-scuba mailing list, Robert Jones of the Delaware Div.
of Fish and Wildlife posted the following on taking lobster:
--------------------------------------------------
There is no license required by Delaware to catch bugs or spear fish
recreationally. The minimum size for a keeper lobster is 3 5/16 and the daily
limit is 2 per INDIVIDUAL diver. There's no language in the law that allows
the limit to two times the number of divers on the boat.
Also, for dc-scuba folks who enjoy spear fishing out of Delaware
ports...the size and creel limits in place for recreational hook/line
fishermen apply to scuba divers, too (with a few exceptions that apply to
free divers only). The regulations specifiy "possession of....," which
translates to "it doesn't matter where you shot the fish, it's where you are
when the man looks in the cooler!" Up to date size and creel limits are
available at most of the tackle shops between Lewes and Fenwick Island.
--------------------------------------------------
He also answered some interesting questions from Richie Burr:
--------------------------------------------------
1. Does the limit law have anything to do with where the lobsters were
taken? If they were taken from a wreck in MD waters where I believe there
is no limit and the boat is out of a DE location does it still apply?
Delaware's laws specify "possession," so it doesn't matter where they're
caught, only where you are when the F&W Enforcement Agent looks in the cooler.
2. Is the commercial size limit smaller than the recreational size limit?
The minimum keeper size is 3 5/16 for both commercial and recreational
lobsters. Commercial watermen pay $57.50 for a lobster pot license ($575 if
they're non-residents). Only licensed commercial watermen are permitted to
sell their catch.
3. Does the "whose cooler there in" rule also apply to lobsters? Can one
hold lobsters in a common cooler?
While the fishing regs contain no "common cooler" references, the state
enforcement folks are whole lot more understanding than the feds when it
comes to counting the total number of bugs in the big cooler and dividing by
the number of divers on the boat.
4. Reading recently on the NOAA page about the size of the commercial
catch (54 million pounds in the US) why such a small limit on recreational
divers? Do you know if the intent is to protect the lobster population or
the commercial fisherman? It just seems that from my observations, the
number of recreational lobsters taken in DE waters is minimal during a
season.
A check on the commercial catch records for Delaware's few commercial
lobster pot fishermen - in the Delaware Bay and inside the 3-mile territorial
waters of the ocean - totalled just over 800 pounds for 1995. As noted, that
does not account for commercial harvest in federal waters off of our coast.
According Charlie Lesser, Delaware's Fisheries section chief, tight regs are
the result of low population numbers. The commercial harvest - at least here
in Delaware - seems to bear that out.
--------------------------------------------------
I'd also point out that, as is my understanding, you cannot use a tickle
stick or spear to take lobster, only your hands.
Okay, probably more info than you really wanted.
Tom R.
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