Please be advised of the following emergency rulemaking to Chapter 34: Groundfish regulations, effective Saturday July 27, 2024. The full document is available on the DMR website. More information is available through the NOAA Fisheries bulletin.

For consistency with NOAA Fisheries federal rulemaking, the Department is implementing regulatory changes to the recreational fishing measures for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock. For cod, the emergency rulemaking modifies the recreational minimum size limit of cod to 23 inches.

For haddock, the emergency rulemaking standardizes recreational measures across sectors with a 15 fish possession limit and a minimum size of 18 inches. For these reasons, the Commissioner hereby adopts an emergency regulation to modify the recreational groundfish measures for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock in accordance with 12 MRS §6171(3)(C).

Summary of recreational regulation changes:

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 27, 2024