2021 Fishing Year Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Allocations for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

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The table below includes the limited access general category (LAGC) fleet fishing year 2021 IFQ allocations effective May 19, 2021, through March 31, 2022. We will upload your vessel’s updated 2021 IFQ and your IFQ letter to Fish Online based on the following allocations.  

**REMINDER** For IFQ vessels, all scallop harvest counts against your IFQ, regardless of where it is caught, including state waters.

IFQ Overage Payback (accountability measure)

You are prohibited from exceeding your IFQ allocation at any time during the fishing year.  If you have exceeded your IFQ, you must balance an overage through temporary IFQ leases and/or permanent allocation transfers prior to any additional fishing activity. However, balancing an IFQ overage does not negate any potential violation related to exceeding your IFQ. If you exceed your yearly IFQ allocation, we will deduct any overages that remain at the end of the fishing year from the following year’s IFQ allocation on a pound-for-pound basis.

2021 Access Area Closures

The following areas are closed for scallop fishing year 2021 (see map above and coordinates below):

• Closed Area II-East
• Nantucket Lightship-North
• Nantucket Lightship-Triangle

Fishing Year 2021 Access Area Allocations

Framework 33 allocates effort into three rotational access areas (Mid-Atlantic Access Area, Nantucket Lightship-South-Deep Access Area, and Closed Area I Access Area).

Fishing Year 2021 LAGC IFQ Trip Allocations for Scallop Access Areas

Atlantic Sea Scallop Quota Monitoring Page

LAGC Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area Scallop Possession Limit and Total Allowable Catch (TAC)  

NGOM TACs for Fishing Year 2021

Framework 33 implements a 175,000-lb annual NGOM TAC for fishing year 2021 that is split between the LAGC and the limited access fleets. The limited access portion of the TAC may only be fished by vessels participating in the Research Set-Aside (RSA) program that are participating in a project that has been allocated NGOM RSA allocation.  During the 2019 fishing year, the LAGC fleet exceeded its portion of the NGOM TAC by 3,278 lb. This triggers a pound-for-pound deduction to the LAGC portion of the NGOM TAC to account for the overage. Because final catch accounting data for the 2019 fishing year was not available in time to implement this deduction in the 2020 fishing year, the LAGC portion of the NGOM TAC for the 2021 fishing year is reduced by 3,278 lb to account for the overage.  The resulting LAGC NGOM TAC is 119,222 lb and the total 2021 NGOM TAC is 171,722 lb. 

**REMINDER** For IFQ vessels, all scallop harvest counts against your IFQ, regardless of where it is caught, including state waters and the NGOM.

Stellwagen Bank Scallop Closed Area

Framework 33 maintains the Stellwagen Bank Closed Area through fishing year 2022. This closure protects a substantial number of small scallops that have not recruited into the fishery. 

Stellwagen Bank Scallop Closed Area

LAGC Incidental Scallop Target TAC: The incidental scallop target TAC for fishing year 2021 is 50,000 lb. Vessels issued an LAGC Incidental Catch scallop permit may land up to 40 lb shucked or 5 U.S. bu of in-shell scallops per trip.

Fishing Year 2021 Flatfish ACLs in the Scallop Fishery:

Important LAGC Program Reminders

Observer Program Updates

Set-Aside Compensation

If we select your IFQ vessel for an open area or access area observed trip, you will receive observer compensation credit of 250 lb per trip if the observer set-aside has not been fully harvested.  You can fish those additional pounds on the observed IFQ trip above the regular possession limit or on a subsequent trip that fishing year. However, if you harvest the additional pounds on a subsequent trip, you must remain within the possession limits. 

We monitor the compensation rates and observer set-aside use closely throughout the year. If information suggests that a different rate is necessary to account for unexpected fishery conditions, we will change the compensation rate as appropriate and necessary. 

Call-In and Survival Craft Requirements

Please read the following letters regarding important information and updates.

Survival Craft Requirements Regarding Capacity

Industry Funded Scallop Program Call-In Requirements

Industry Funded Scallop Call-In Guide

LAGC Calendar Day Landing Restriction

LAGC vessels may not land scallops more than once per calendar day. For example, an LAGC vessel that lands scallops on Monday may depart on a second trip on the same day it landed scallops (Monday), but cannot land scallops again until Tuesday.

Scallop Pre-Landing Notification

LAGC IFQ and NGOM vessels must send a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Scallop Pre-Landing Notification form at least 6 hours before arrival on the way back to port, or immediately after fishing ends if less than 6 hours before arrival. In addition, you must submit this form on trips that are not declared as scallop trips, but on which scallops are kept incidentally.  

Forms must include the:

• Operator’s permit number
• Vessel trip report (VTR) serial number recorded from that trip's VTR
• Estimated amount of scallop meats and/or bushels to be landed
• Estimated time and date of arrival in port
• Port city and state at which the scallops will be landed
• Whether any scallops were caught in the NGOM

Shell Stock Restrictions

• Vessels fishing in the Georges Bank paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) closure area may not retain in-shell scallops.
• Vessels may possess no more than 75 bu of in-shell scallops shoreward of the VMS demarcation line.
• A vessel declared into the Sea Scallop Area Access Program may not possess more than 75 bu of in-shell scallops outside of the access area.
• Vessels issued an LAGC NGOM scallop permit and IFQ vessels fishing in the NGOM may possess no more than 25 bu in-shell scallops shoreward of the VMS demarcation line.
• See the shellstock conversion sheet for additional information.

Fishing Year 2021 Rotational Area Coordinates

Closed Area I Access Area

Mid-Atlantic Access Area

Nantucket Lightship-South-Deep Access Area

Closed Area II Access Area

¹ The intersection of 41°0′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°0′ N lat. and 66°09.33′ W long.

² From Point CAIISWE 4 connected to Point CAIISWE5 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary.

³ The intersection of 40°40′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 40°40′ N lat. and 65°52.61′ W long.

Closed Areas for Fishing Year 2021

Closed Area II-East Closed Area

¹ The intersection of 41°30′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°30′ N lat., 66°34.73′ W long.

² From Point CAIIE2 connected to Point CAIIE3 along the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary.

³ The intersection of 41°00′ N lat. and the U.S.-Canada Maritime Boundary, approximately 41°00′ N lat. and 66°09.33′ W long.

Nantucket Lightship-Triangle Closed Area

Nantucket Lightship-North Closed Area

Stellwagen Bank Closed Area