Section 26-159a-9 - Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)(a) No person shall use any pair trawl or purse seine to capture or take any bluefish.(b) No person shall use any roller rig gill net to surround any bluefish. For the purposes of this section, a roller rig gill net is defined as a gill net which is set or retrieved with the assistance of a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic device.(c)Open Commercial Fishing Season. The open commercial fishing season begins April 15th each year and ends December 31st or such sooner date as one hundred percent of the Connecticut quota of bluefish as set forth in subsection (e) of this section has been landed. No holder of a license or registration issued under section 26-142a of the Connecticut General Statutes concerning the taking of finfish shall land bluefish in excess of the daily creel limit specified in section 26-159a-7 from January 1st to April 14th inclusive, or after one hundred percent of the Connecticut quota specified in subsection (e) of this section has been landed. Any such bluefish taken in accordance with a creel limit under the provisions of section 26-159a-7 shall not be used for commercial purposes.(d)Commercial Fishery Possession Limit.(1) No holder of any commercial fishing or landing license or registration permitted to take bluefish from the waters of this state or to land bluefish in Connecticut, regardless of where such fish are taken, shall possess bluefish in excess of the limits specified as follows:(A) Five hundred pounds until a total of ninety-five percent of the Connecticut quota specified in subsection (e) of this section has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the limit shall be one hundred pounds until the Connecticut quota has been landed in Connecticut,(B) On October first, if less than eighty percent of the Connecticut quota specified in subsection (e) of this section has been landed in Connecticut, the limit shall be one thousand pounds until a total of ninety-five percent of the Connecticut quota has been landed in Connecticut, at which time the limit shall be one hundred pounds.(C) When 100 percent of the Connecticut quota is landed the possession limit shall be zero.(2) The possession limits specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall apply to the aggregate of all persons on board the vessel per trip or per day whichever is the longer period of time. Transfer of bluefish between vessels at sea is prohibited.(3) Any bluefish 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 bluefish taken under section 26-159a-7 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.(e)Commercial Quota. The commercial fishery quota for bluefish landed in Connecticut regardless where such bluefish are taken shall be as adopted in the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.Conn. Agencies Regs. § 26-159a-9
Effective May 19, 1995; Amended March 31, 2003