You asked why the commercial limit for blackfish is sometimes less than the recreational limit, and why there is no guarantee of renewing a commercial fishing license.

SUMMARY

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has implemented emergency regulations limiting newly licensed commercial fishermen to 10 blackfish (also known as tautog) per vessel per trip. The limit affects those commercial fishermen who obtain a license after January 1, 2004, and who did not hold a license between June 1, 1995, and December 31, 2003. The blackfish limit for other commercial fishermen remains at 25 to 75 per trip, depending on the type of fishing gear used.

DEP imposed the limit to restrict the take of over-fished fish species, of which blackfish is one. Before January 1, 2004, DEP limited the taking of blackfish through a legislative moratorium on the issuance of new commercial fishing licenses. When the legislature did not extend the moratorium past December 31, 2003, DEP imposed a commercial fishing limit on blackfish and other species through the issuance of emergency regulations.

The blackfish limit for recreational fishermen is 4 per person. If five newly licensed commercial fishermen sailed on the same vessel they would be limited to 10 fish per trip, and so have a lower per-person limit. But DEP’s Eric Smith says in his experience, this happens only rarely.

By law, all commercial fishing licenses expire on December 31 of the year in which they are issued. During the moratorium in place from June 1, 1995, through December 31, 2003, only applicants who had held a license in previous years could reapply (see below). DEP is notifying new license applicants of the license’s annual nature and expiration date because it intends to introduce legislation calling for the moratorium’s reinstatement. Smith says a reinstated moratorium would not allow commercial fishermen licensed after January 1, 2004 to reapply after their current license expired.

MORATORIUM ON COMMERCIAL FISHING LICENSES

Enactment of Moratorium

The legislature enacted a moratorium on the issuance of new commercial fishing licenses in 1995, and subsequently extended it through December 31, 2003. During the moratorium, the DEP commissioner could only issue commercial licenses to people who had held a license between January 1, 1980, and June 1, 1995 (CGS § 26-142b). DEP commissioner Art Rocque has said the moratorium was intended to protect depleted or recovering fishing stocks as well as the welfare and livelihood of longstanding commercial fishermen who had historically depended on these fish.

Adoption of Emergency Regulations

The moratorium ended December 31, 2003, when a bill to extend it (SB 850) died in the 2003 session. The end of the moratorium prompted DEP in November 2003 to propose emergency regulations to limit the catch of certain fish species. In a November 3, 2003, letter to the governor, Rocque said these regulations were needed to “limit the potentially threatening increase in fishing effort these new license holders represent and to conserve important fisheries resources.” The emergency limits, he said, would “provide some opportunity for small scale fishing to new license holders without jeopardizing over-fished and depleted resources.”

The emergency regulations, which have been adopted, restrict license holders who procure a license after January 1, 2004, and who did not hold a license between June 1, 1995, and December 31, 2003, to a maximum of 10 blackfish per fishing trip (Conn. Agencies Regs. § 26-159a-25(a)). All other commercial license holders are governed by existing regulation: 75 fish by trawl, or 25 by hook, fish pot or various types of net (Conn. Agencies Regs. § 26-159a-13).

CONDITIONAL NATURE OF LICENSE

By law, commercial fishing licenses expire on December 31 of the year they are issued (CGS § 26-142a(b)). DEP’s Smith says the department explicitly notified license applicants of this condition in a form accompanying commercial license applications (attached). Smith said it was particularly important to alert applicants because of the moratorium’s possible reinstatement.

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