322 CMR, § 6.37

Current through Register 1536, December 6, 2024

Section 6.37 - Coastal Shark Conservation and Management

(1)Purpose. 322 CMR 6.37 seeks to ensure coordinated state and federal management towards establishing healthy self sustaining populations of Atlantic coastal sharks. Coastal shark conservation and management is interstate and state federal in nature; effective assessment and management can be enhanced through cooperative efforts with all Atlantic state and federal scientists and fisheries managers. 322 CMR 6.37 creates two groups of sharks: Permitted Species that are allowed to be harvested, and Prohibited Species that are protected and may not be harvested unless specifically authorized by the Director or NOAA Fisheries.

For purposes of 322 CMR 6.37, coastal sharks do not include spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) which are managed separately under 322 CMR 6.35.

(2)Definitions. For the purpose of 322 CMR 6.37, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Billfish. Any Atlantic billfish, including blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), white marlin (Kajikia albidus), sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus), longbill spearfish (Tetrapturus pfluegeri) or roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii).

Circle Hook. A non-stainless steel fishing hook designed and manufactured so that the barb of the hook is not offset from the plane of the shank and bend, and is turned perpendicularly back towards the shank to form a circular or oval shape.

Director. The Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Division. The Division of Marine Fisheries.

Fork Length. The straight line measurement of a fish from the midpoint of the anterior edge of the fish to the fork of the caudal fin. The measurement is not made along the curve of the body.

Gillnet. Any anchored or drifting vertical wall of webbing that is buoyed at the top and weighted at the bottom and designed to capture fish by entanglement, gilling or wedging.

Haul Back. Retrieving any dredge, trawl, gillnet or longline or other such mobile or fixed fishing gear and placing the contents of the catch on the deck or hold of the vessel.

Longline. Fishing gear that is set horizontally, either anchored, floating, or attached to a vessel, that consists of a mainline or groundline with three or more leaders or gangions and hooks, whether retrieved by hand or mechanical means.

Swordfish. That species of fish known as Xiphias gladius.

Tuna. The order of fish known as Scombriformes including the families Trichiuridae and Gempylidea and the genus Scomber and other such species of fishes that are regulated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Tunas in the Atlantic Ocean.

(3)List of Species by Groups. The following sections contain the species categorized as prohibited or permitted. Each species is listed as its common name along with its associated taxonomic name.

(a)Permitted Shark Species. The following species are allowed to be harvested under the provisions of 322 CMR 6.37(4):

Atlantic sharpnose (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae)

Blacknose (Carcharhinus acronotus)

Blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Blue (Prionace glauca)

Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo)

Bull (Carcharhinus leucas)

Common thresher (Alopias vulpinus)

Finetooth (Carcharhinus isodon)

Great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran)

Lemon (Negaprion brevirostris)

Nurse (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

Oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus)

Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini)

Smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis)

Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena)

Spinner (Carcharhinus brevipinna)

Tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier)

(b)Prohibited Shark Species. The following species are prohibited from harvest under the provisions of 322CMR 6.37(3):

Atlantic angel (Squatina dumeril)

Basking (Cetorhinus maximus)

Bigeye sand tiger (Odontaspis noronhai)

Bigeye sixgill (Hexanchus nakamurai)

Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus)

Bignose (Carcharhinus altimus)

Bluntnose sixgill (Hexanchus griseus)

Caribbean reef (Carcharhinus perezii)

Caribbean sharpnose (Rhizoprionodon porosus)

Dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus)

Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis)

Longfin mako (Isurus paucus)

Narrowtooth (Carcharhinus brachyurus)

Night (Carcharhinus signatus)

Sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus)

Sand tiger (Carcharias taurus)

Sharpnose sevengill (Heptranchias perlo)

Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus)

Silky (Carcharhinus falciformis)

Smalltail (Carcharhinus porosus)

Whale (Rhincodon typus)

White (Carcharodon carcharias)

(4)Regulation of Catches.

(a)Permitted Species Size Limits.

1.Recreational Fishing Size Limits.

a. There shall be no recreational minimum size limit for smooth dogfish, Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth and blacknose sharks;

b. For great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, and smooth hammerhead sharks, it shall be unlawful to possess or land a shark that is less than 78 inches in fork length; and

c. For all other Permitted Shark Species, it shall be unlawful to possess or land a shark that is less than 54 fork inches in length.

2.Commercial Size Limits. For commercial fishers, there shall be no minimum size for any of the Permitted Species.

(b)Permitted Species Possession Limits.

1.Recreational Catch Limits. A recreational angler fishing from shore may harvest only one fish among all Permitted Species and one additional Bonnethead, one additional Atlantic sharpnose, and one additional smooth dogfish per trip. A recreational vessel may possess on board or land only one fish among all Permitted Species per trip regardless of the number of recreational fishers aboard, and one additional Bonnethead, one additional Atlantic sharpnose, and one additional smooth dogfish per person. Recreational fishers shall not possess oceanic whitetip sharks, great hammerhead sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks or smooth hammerhead sharks if in possession of tunas, billfish or swordfish. Porbeagle sharks caught alive shall be released by recreational fishers if tunas, billfish or swordfish are to be retained, possessed or landed.

2.Commercial Catch Limits. Commercial fishers shall not retain:

a. more than 100 pounds of smooth dogfish per trip or per day, whichever is the longer period of time; or

b. any quantity of a Permitted Shark Species after the Director has announced a commercial fishery closure.

(c)Gear Restrictions.

1.Recreational Gears. Recreational fishers may take coastal sharks only by rod and reel or handline. Recreational fishers shall use circle hooks as the terminal tackle except when fishing with flies or artificial lures. Circle hooks are required for any line that is targeting sharks by the angler on a line-to-line basis. Unless caught using flies or artificial lures, any shark caught on any hook other than a circle hook shall be released.

2.Commercial Gears. Commercial fishers may take coastal sharks in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth by rod and reel, handlines, gillnets, trawl nets, pound nets, fish traps, and weirs. It shall be unlawful to fish for, possess on board, or land coastal sharks taken by a longline of any length.

Exemption. Vessels permitted by the NOAA Fisheries to retain, possess and land coastal sharks by longline gear may possess and land coastal sharks legally harvested by longlines in waters outside the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, provided the gear is properly stowed onboard the vessel and the vessel transits directly through the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth for the purpose of landing the catch without stopping unless directed to do so by the Division of Law Enforcement.

(d)Catch Disposition.

1. It shall be unlawful for:

a. any fisher to fillet sharks at sea;

b. any fisher to remove fins or tails from sharks;

c. recreational fishers to possess on board or land sharks whose heads, tails, and fins are not attached naturally to the carcass;

d. commercial fishers to possess on board or land sharks whose fins and tails are not attached naturally to the carcass.

Exception: Commercial fishers may cut fins as long as the fins remain attached to the carcass with at least a small portion of uncut skin.

2. Commercial fishers may eviscerate sharks and remove the heads.

3. All sharks caught incidental to fisheries directed toward other species must be released in such manner as to ensure maximum probability of survival.

(e)Authorization to Possess Prohibited Species. The Director may authorize persons to land and possess certain Prohibited Species for research or other scientific purposes. Commercial fishers who possess authorization from NOAA Fisheries to harvest certain species from federal waters may possess on board, or land those species in Massachusetts provided said fish were taken lawfully from federal waters.

(f)Dealer Measures. All dealers purchasing Atlantic Coastal Shark species from commercial fishers must obtain a federal Commercial Shark Dealer Permit from NOAA Fisheries.

(5)White Shark Conservation Measures.

(a)Definitions.

Attract. To conduct any activity that lures or may lure any white shark to a person or vessel by using food, bait, chum, dyes, decoys, acoustics or any other means, excluding the mere presence of persons on the water including those persons conducting commercial or recreational fishing activity.

Capture. To forcefully gain control of a white shark. Capture includes, without limitation, the restraint or detention of a white shark or any act of intrusive research performed on a white shark. Capture shall not include the incidental catch of white sharks during the course of lawfully permitted fishing activity.

Chum. Fish, chopped fish, fish fluids or other organic materials disposed of in the water for the purpose of attracting white sharks.

Director. The Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Intrusive Research. A procedure conducted for scientific research involving a break or a cut in the skin, the application or insertion of an instrument, the introduction of a foreign substance or object onto the animal's immediate environment, or a stimulus directed at animals that may affect white shark behavior.

(b)Restricted Activities Related to White Sharks. It shall be unlawful for any person to attract or capture a white shark, unless the person has been issued a special white shark project permit by the Director in accordance with 322 CMR 7.01(4): Special Permits