Sec.26-159a-15. Scup (porgy) (Stenotomus chrysops)

(a) Definitions.

(1) "Commissioner" means Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

(2) "Department" means Department of Environmental Protection.

(3) "Qualifying fishing gear" means commercial hook, gill net, pound net, trawl net, scallop dredge or fish pot.

(4) "Qualifying landings" means summer flounder or scup landings made in Connecticut and taken by qualifying fishing gear as indicated in reports submitted under authority of section 26-157b of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(5) "Qualifying period" means June 1, 1995 through May 31, 2003, inclusive.

(6) "1997 Scup License Endorsement Letter" means a Scup License Endorsement Letter for Connecticut waters issued by the commissioner which attests that the license holder:

(a) recorded scup landings in Connecticut taken by commercial finfishing methods between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1996 as indicated in reports submitted under authority of section 26-157b of the Connecticut General Statutes, in commercial fishery landing records of the U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service, or in a notarized copy of a dealer or wholesaler receipt; or

(b) purchased, or was constructing or rerigging a commercial fishing vessel between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1996 for purposes of fishing with commercial finfishing gear, to be based on written proof of such activity.

(b) Commercial Fishing Moratorium.

(1) From May 1 through October 31 inclusive, no holder of a license or registration issued under authority of Section 26-142a of the Connecticut General Statutes shall possess, or shall have possessed scup unless said person:

(A) is in immediate possession of a 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter for Connecticut Waters, herein referred to as the "2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter," issued by the Commissioner pursuant to this section which attests that:

(i) the license holder held a 1997 Scup License Endorsement Letter or a 1994 Summer Flounder Endorsement Letter as specified in section 26-159a-10 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and made qualifying landings during the qualifying period and reported said landings to the department in accordance with section 26-157b-1 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies; or

(ii) the vessel owner held a 1997 Scup License Endorsement Letter or a 1994 Summer Flounder License Endorsement Letter as specified in subsection (a) of section 26-159a-10 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and purchased, or was constructing or rerigging a commercial fishing vessel between January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2003 for purposes of fishing with qualifying fishing gear, to be based on more than one form of verifiable written proof of such activity, provided said vessel owner has made or will have made and reported qualifying landings with that vessel no later than 12 months immediately succeeding the effective date of this regulation; or

(iii) the vessel owner held a 1997 Scup License Endorsement Letter or a 1994 Summer Flounder License Endorsement Letter as specified in subsection (a) of section 26-159a-10 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and an operator of that vessel made qualifying landings with the vessel during the qualifying period and said landings were reported to the department in accordance with section 26-157b-1 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies; or

(iv) the license holder is the recipient of a license transferred under section 26-142b of the Connecticut General Statutes, such license was transferred with a 1997 or 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter issued under this section or a 1994 or 2003 Summer Flounder License Endorsement Letter issued under section 26-159a-10 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, and such license holder made qualifying landings during the qualifying period and reported said landings to the department in accordance with section 26-157b-1 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies or has or will have made and reported qualifying landings in the 12 months immediately succeeding the date of the license transfer, whichever is later; or

(B) is operating a vessel owned by a license holder who has qualified for an endorsement letter under subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection. During the operation of such vessel, said endorsement letter shall remain on such vessel as authorization of the operator to possess scup and shall not be used to authorize the possession of scup on any additional vessel, except that said license holder shall be allowed to use said endorsement letter to authorize possession of scup on any vessel said license holder owned prior to January 1, 1997 and that said license holder still owns; or

(C) is engaged in the hauling of lobster pots under the authority of section 26-142a of the Connecticut General Statutes and is in possession of lobsters.

(2) 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letters will automatically be issued without application. Any person who does not receive a 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter, or is denied said endorsement letter, may appeal in writing to the Commissioner. The only grounds for appeal is that the Commissioner erred in concluding that the license holder did not meet the criteria in subclause (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) of subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(3) No person shall take scup with a trawl net if the qualifying landings for which the 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter was issued and under which that person is fishing did not indicate the taking of summer flounder or scup by trawl net.

(4) No person who has transferred a commercial fishing license according to the provisions of section 26-142b of the Connecticut General Statutes, with an endorsement letter issued under this section, shall qualify for a 2003 Scup License Endorsement Letter based on the landings history for which the transferred endorsement letter was issued.

(c) Commercial Fishery Possession and Landing Limits.

(1) No holder of any commercial fishing or landing license or registration permitted to take scup from the waters of this state or to land scup in Connecticut, regardless of where such fish are taken, shall possess or land scup in excess of the following possession or landing limits, respectively, that are based on the coastwide scup quota and Connecticut's scup quota as specified in the Scup Fishery Management Plan of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, herein referred to as "the plan":

(A) Between January 1 and April 30, the landing limit shall be 30,000 pounds per two-week period, aggregated over all ports landed, until 80% of said coastwide quota has been landed, at which time the possession limit shall be 1,000 pounds until 100% of said coastwide quota has been landed, at which time the limit shall be zero pounds. During any such two-week period, no license holder shall land scup at any other port once that license holder's aggregate landings for that two-week period total 30,000 pounds. For the purposes of this subsection, a two-week period means from Sunday morning at 0000 hours to the second subsequent Saturday night at 2400 hours. For the purposes of quota-monitoring, the beginning of the first two-week period of a year shall be consistent with that established by the National Marine Fisheries Service or the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

(B) Between November 1 and December 31, the possession limit shall be 3,500 pounds until 100% of said coastwide quota has been landed, at which time the limit shall be zero pounds.

(C) Between May 1 and May 31:

(i) in the commercial hook, pound net and gillnet fisheries, the possession limit shall be 25 pounds;

(ii) in the bottom trawl and fish pot fisheries, the possession limit shall be 50 pounds;

(iii) in the lobster pot fishery when in possession of lobsters, the possession limit shall be 10 fish.

(D) Between June 1 and August 31:

(i) in the commercial hook, pound net and gillnet fisheries, the possession limit shall be 100 pounds until 40% of the Connecticut quota specified in the plan has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the possession limit shall be 25 pounds until 70% of said Connecticut quota has been landed, at which time the limit shall be zero pounds;

(ii) in the bottom trawl and fish pot fisheries, the possession limit shall be 200 pounds until 40% of the Connecticut quota specified in the plan has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the possession limit shall be 50 pounds until 70% of said Connecticut quota has been landed, at which time the limit shall be zero pounds;

(iii) in the lobster pot fishery when in possession of lobsters, the possession limit shall be 10 fish.

(E) Between September 1 and October 31:

(i) in the commercial hook, pound net and gillnet fisheries, the possession limit shall be 100 pounds until 90% of the Connecticut quota specified in the plan has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the possession limit shall be 25 pounds;

(ii) in the bottom trawl and fish pot fisheries, the possession limit shall be 200 pounds until 90% of the Connecticut quota specified in the plan has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the possession limit shall be 50 pounds;

(iii) in the lobster pot fishery when in possession of lobsters, the possession limit shall be 10 fish.

(F) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, if on or after October 1, the Connecticut quota specified in the plan is projected not to be landed in Connecticut by the end of the quota period, the commercial fishery possession limit shall for all gear types with the exception of lobster pots, be calculated as (0.07 / W) * Q, rounded up to the nearest 100 pounds, where W is the number of weeks remaining in the quota period and Q is the amount of Connecticut quota remaining, provided that when 98% of said Connecticut quota has been landed in Connecticut the possession limit shall be 100 pounds for all gear types with the exception of lobster pots. This formula shall be used for the scup fishery as of the effective date of this regulation, in lieu of the formula contained in section 26-159a-24 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(G) During the period May 1 through October 31, when 100% of the Connecticut quota is landed the possession limit shall be zero pounds for all gear types.

(2) When the scup landing limit or possession limit will change based on the status of landings relative to the quota threshold percentages specified in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the Department shall mail a notice of such change to all persons who possess a 2003 Scup Endorsement Letter as defined in subsection (b)(1)(A) of this section and to all seafood dealers licensed under section 26-142a of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(3) The possession and landing limits specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall apply to the vessel, regardless of how many persons are on board. Possession limits shall apply per trip or per day, whichever is the longer period of time. No person shall transfer scup between vessels at sea.

(4) No person fishing under the provisions of subparagraphs (C) (i) and (ii), (D) (i) and (ii) and (E) (i) and (ii) of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall, during a fishing trip when using more than one gear type, possess any scup in excess of the largest of the gear-specific limits they are authorized to possess and no such gear-specific trip limits shall be additive.

(5) Any scup taken contrary to this section shall, without avoidable injury, be returned immediately to the water from which taken and no person fishing under the provisions of this section shall also, during the same trip, possess any scup taken under section 26-159a-7 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(Adopted effective October 23, 1997; Amended June 26, 1998; Amended July 21, 1999; Amended June 28, 2000; Amended January 28, 2002; Amended July 1, 2002; Amended March 31, 2003; Amended December 4, 2003; Amended August 26, 2005; Amended September 27, 2007)