50 C.F.R. § 648.89 Recreational and charter/party vessel restrictions.
Title 50 - Wildlife and Fisheries
(a) Recreational gear restrictions. Persons aboard charter or party vessels permitted under this part and not fishing under the DAS program, and recreational fishing vessels in the EEZ, are prohibited from fishing with more than two hooks per line, and one line per angler, and must stow all other fishing gear on board the vessel as specified under §648.23(b). (b) Recreational minimum fish sizes—(1) Minimum fish sizes. Persons aboard charter or party vessels permitted under this part and not fishing under the NE multispecies DAS program, and recreational fishing vessels in or possessing fish from the EEZ, may not possess fish smaller than the minimum fish sizes, measured in total length (TL) as follows: (2) Exception. Vessels may possess fillets less than the minimum size specified, if the fillets are taken from legal-sized fish and are not offered or intended for sale, trade or barter. (3) Minimum fish sizes. Unless further restricted under paragraph (b)(4) of this section, persons aboard charter or party vessels permitted under this part and not fishing under the NE multispecies DAS program, and recreational fishing vessels in or possessing fish from the EEZ, may not possess fish smaller than the minimum fish sizes, measured in total length (TL) as follows: (4) GOM cod. Private recreational vessels and charter party vessels described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, may not possess cod smaller than 24 inches (63.7 cm) in total length when fishing in the GOM Regulated Mesh Area specified under §648.80(a)(1). (c) Cod possession restrictions—(1) Recreational fishing vessels. (i) Each person on a private recreational vessel may possess no more than 10 cod per day, in, or harvested from, the EEZ. (ii) For purposes of counting fish, fillets will be converted to whole fish at the place of landing by dividing the number of fillets by two. If fish are filleted into a single (butterfly) fillet, such fillet shall be deemed to be from one whole fish. (iii) Cod harvested by recreational fishing vessels in or from the EEZ with more than one person aboard may be pooled in one or more containers. Compliance with the possession limit will be determined by dividing the number of fish on board by the number of persons on board. If there is a violation of the possession limit on board a vessel carrying more than one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been committed by the owner or operator of the vessel. (iv) Cod must be stored so as to be readily available for inspection. (v) Unless further restricted by the Seasonal GOM Cod Possession Prohibition specified under paragraph (c)(1)(vi) of this section, each person on a private recreational vessel may possess up to 10 cod per day, in, or harvested from the EEZ. (vi) Seasonal GOM Cod Possession Prohibition. Persons on board private recreational fishing vessels may not fish for or possess any cod in or from the GOM Regulated Mesh Area from November 1 through March 31. Private recreational vessels in possession of cod caught outside the GOM Regulated Mesh Area may transit this area, provided all bait and hooks are removed from fishing rods and the cod has been gutted and stored. (2) Charter/party vessels. Charter/party vessels fishing any part of a trip in the GOM Regulated Mesh Area, as defined in §648.80(a)(1), are subject to the following possession limit restrictions: (i) Each person on the vessel may possess no more than 10 cod per day. (ii) For purposes of counting fish, fillets will be converted to whole fish at the place of landing by dividing the number of fillets by two. If fish are filleted into a single (butterfly) fillet, such fillet shall be deemed to be from one whole fish. (iii) Cod harvested by charter/party vessels with more than one person aboard may be pooled in one or more containers. Compliance with the possession limits will be determined by dividing the number of fish on board by the number of persons on board. If there is a violation of the possession limits on board a vessel carrying more than one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been committed by the owner or operator of the vessel. (iv) Cod must be stored so as to be readily available for inspection. (v) Unless further restricted under paragraph (c)(2)(vi) of this section, each person on the vessel may possess up to 10 cod per day. (vi) Seasonal GOM Cod Possession Prohibition. Persons on board charter/party fishing vessels may not fish for or possess any cod in the GOM Regulated Mesh Area from November 1 through March 31. Charter/party vessels in or from possession of cod caught outside the GOM Regulated Mesh Area may transit this area, provided all bait and hooks are removed from fishing rods and the cod has been gutted and stored. (3) Atlantic halibut. Charter and party vessels permitted under this part, and recreational fishing vessels fishing in the EEZ, may not possess, on board, more than one Atlantic halibut. (4) Accounting of daily trip limit. For the purposes of determining the per day trip limit for cod for recreational fishing vessels and party/charter vessels, any trip in excess of 15 hours and covering 2 consecutive calendar days will be considered more than 1 day. Similarly, any trip in excess of 39 hours and covering 3 consecutive calendar days will be considered more than 2 days and, so on, in a similar fashion. (d) Restrictions on sale. It is unlawful to sell, barter, trade, or otherwise transfer for a commercial purpose, or to attempt to sell, barter, trade, or otherwise transfer for a commercial purpose, NE multispecies caught or landed by charter or party vessels permitted under this part not fishing under a DAS or recreational fishing vessels fishing in the EEZ. (e) Charter/party vessel restrictions on fishing in GOM closed areas and the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area—(1) GOM Closed Areas. A vessel fishing under charter/party regulations may not fish in the GOM closed areas specified in §648.81(d)(1) through (f)(1) during the time periods specified in those paragraphs, unless the vessel has on board a letter of authorization issued by the Regional Administrator pursuant to §648.81(f)(2)(iii) and paragraph (e)(3) of this section. The letter of authorization is required for a minimum of 3 months, if the vessel intends to fish in the seasonal GOM closure areas, or is required for the rest of the fishing year, beginning with the start of the participation period of the letter of authorization, if the vessel intends to fish in the year-round GOM closure areas. (2) Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. A vessel fishing under charter/party regulations may not fish in the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area specified in §648.81(c)(1) unless the vessel has on board a letter of authorization issued by the Regional Administrator pursuant to §648.81(c)(2)(iii) and paragraph (e)(3) of this section. (3) Letters of authorization. To obtain either of the letters of authorization specified in paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this section, a vessel owner must request a letter from the Northeast Regional Office of NMFS, either in writing or by phone (see Table 1 to 50 CFR 600.502). As a condition of these letters of authorization, the vessel owner must agree to the following: (i) The letter of authorization must be carried on board the vessel during the period of participation; (ii) With the exception of tuna, fish harvested or possessed by the vessel may not be sold or intended for trade, barter or sale, regardless of where the regulated species are caught; (iii) The vessel has no gear other than rod and reel or handline gear on board; and (iv) For the GOM charter/party closed area exemption only, the vessel may not use any NE multispecies DAS during the period of participation. [69 FR 22984, Apr. 27, 2004] Effective Date Note: At 71 FR 19387, Apr. 13, 2006, §648.89 was amended by suspending paragraphs (b)(1), (c)(1)(i) and (c)(2)(i), and adding paragraphs (b)(3) and (4), (c)(1)(v) and (vi), and (c)(2)(v) and (vi), effective May 1, 2006, through Oct. 10, 2006.
Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries
PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Subpart F—Management Measures for the NE Multispecies and Monkfish Fisheries
§ 648.89 Recreational and charter/party vessel restrictions.
Minimum Fish Sizes (TL) for Charter, Party, and Private Recreational Vessels------------------------------------------------------------------------ Species Sizes (inches)------------------------------------------------------------------------Cod...................................... 22 (58.4 cm)Haddock.................................. 19 (48.3 cm)Pollock.................................. 19 (48.3 cm)Witch flounder (gray sole)............... 14 (35.6 cm)Yellowtail flounder...................... 13 (33.0 cm)Atlantic halibut......................... 36 (91.4 cm)American plaice (dab).................... 14 (35.6 cm)Winter flounder (blackback).............. 12 (30.5 cm)Redfish.................................. 9 (22.9 cm)------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minimum Fish Sizes (TL) for Charter, Party, and Private Recreational Vessels------------------------------------------------------------------------ Species Sizes------------------------------------------------------------------------Cod....................................... 22 (58.4 cm)Haddock................................... 19 (48.3 cm)Pollock................................... 19 (48.3 cm)Witch flounder (gray sole)................ 14 (35.6 cm)Yellowtail flounder....................... 13 (33.0 cm)Atlantic halibut.......................... 36 (91.4 cm)American plaice (dab)..................... 14 (35.6 cm)Winter flounder (blackback)............... 12 (30.5 cm)Redfish................................... 9 (22.9 cm)------------------------------------------------------------------------
