Not-so-kayak dive report, Marblehead 7/5

[mark_the_singer]

Trappist, thanks for the report. Very interesting. I've considered a kayak dive before but I always wondered about the practicality. I might have to add it to my list of things to do. I do have a question. What size semi-dry were you using and did you have it all zipped up prior to heading out in the kayak? I would overheat in seconds if I did that but I think I'd capsize the kayak zipping up.
Also, I agree. We must drop these silly imperial measurements and get with the rest of the world on the metric system. Dividing by ten is so much easier than remembering obscure numbers like 5,280 ft in a mile. What is the hold up America?

 

[trappist]

Hey Mark, I would definitely encourage you to try it, even if you do not like it, you will be able to know for sure you don't ;o) I do not like kayaking, I admit, but I like new experiences in diving

As for the semi-dry, I have a mares 6.5mm suit and within surrent temperatures I surely can hold around 1h. You'd better zip yourself all up as if you inadvertently capsize on the way to the dive site, you'd be all wet and filled with water ;o) At least we all were zipped up !
One of us was even in a drysuit, so it is feasible although I would not recommend it really as movements are limited (at least with mine, not sure if all are like this).

Try it and have fun ! Come back and let us know how you did, what you liked and what you disliked !

 

[frost31337]

I don't think that is true. The regulation says 1 bushel in the shell or 4 quarts shucked which sure implies you can land them in the shell.

Here is the recreatonal reg:
"(3) Recreational Fishery Limit. In any one day, it is unlawful for a recreational fisherman to harvest or possess more than one bushel of whole scallops or four quarts of shucked scallops for personal use."

I actually had a talk with a fish and game officer about this. He told me that I was technically breaking the law by shucking them on the tailgate of my truck, instead of at the waterline.

" (5) Disposition of Catch. No scallops shall be landed or brought ashore in the shell unless the area fished is classified as Approved by the Division in accordance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program."
-Taken from the same link, which I can not post, or quite due to postcount.

 

[trappist]

Well... tell me how you would go diving and come back ashore with the scallops all shucked... From a boat dive, easy, you can do this on the boat... from kayak potentially you could do this on your kayak, although I'm sure I would loose half if not all of them ;o) but if you find them (rare, I know) in a shore dive, there is no way you can shuck them before touching shore...
I go ahead and shuck them on the beach or at home, silly rules like this shoudl be revised and make sense... a rule that does not make sense or is impossible to apply is not a rule anymore

 

[frost31337]

Well... tell me how you would go diving and come back ashore with the scallops all shucked... From a boat dive, easy, you can do this on the boat... from kayak potentially you could do this on your kayak, although I'm sure I would loose half if not all of them ;o) but if you find them (rare, I know) in a shore dive, there is no way you can shuck them before touching shore...
I go ahead and shuck them on the beach or at home, silly rules like this shoudl be revised and make sense... a rule that does not make sense or is impossible to apply is not a rule anymore

I understand, and think that the rule is a bit of a pain myself.

I just thought it may be a good thing to mention because I was approached by an officer after a shore dive in Marblehead, with about 20 scallops. He was very cool about it, but did inform me that I was breaking the law by shucking them on the tailgate of my truck (100' from shore).

He gave me a very strong recommendation that in the future I would be much better off shucking all my scallops at the water line, and making sure that "all remains" made it back in to the water. He also suggested that it was a good idea to leave the catch bag in the water while I go to my truck and un-gear after a shore dive where I come back with a catch.

Honestly, I feel it is a lot safer to shuck them on the tailgate of my truck, and it lessens the chances of me dropping scallops, or cutting my hand. I also feel pretty lucky that I was caught by an officer who was willing to explain the rules and tell me what I needed to do differently in the future to abide by the rules.

 

[trappist]

I think this is very useful information for many of us

 

[RIOceanographer]

I actually had a talk with a fish and game officer about this. He told me that I was technically breaking the law by shucking them on the tailgate of my truck, instead of at the waterline.

" (5) Disposition of Catch. No scallops shall be landed or brought ashore in the shell unless the area fished is classified as Approved by the Division in accordance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program."
-Taken from the same link, which I can not post, or quite due to postcount.

I am not saying the officer didn't tell you that, but he didn't get it from that part of the reg you copied there.

That section of the reg you copied is just an awkward way of saying you can't fish in areas closed due to contamination (that is what the National Shellfish Sanitation Program is about), it has nothing to do with whether you have to shuck them or not.

The key is where it says "unless the area fished....". In other words you can land or bring ashore in the shell as long as you meet the criteria in the "unless" part.

It is also a bit confusing in the wording but since it says "landed OR brought ashore", that "or" means that "landed" is distinct from "brought ashore in the shell" so you can't land shucked either because that would be covered by "landed". So you can't fish in closed areas just because you are shucking the scallops.

Back to your point though, I have never heard of not being able to land them in shell, and I can't find anything in the regs about it. The regs actually seem to indicate the opposite, both by having an in shell catch limit and in number 5 you copied there by indicating you can do it if you fished in approved areas. It seems to contradict the officer.

Perhaps he was just concerned with what you were doing with the shells and scallop guts? Anyway, if you figure out where he got it from or if anyone else has experienced that, I'd be curious.

 

[yakdiver1]

" (5) Disposition of Catch. No scallops shall be landed or brought ashore in the shell unless the area fished is classified as Approved by the Division in accordance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program."


The quote referred to above has to do with contaminated scallops. This would only be a concern if the scallops were caught in red tide conditions.

Most law enforcement types hassling divers have no idea what the laws are for catching lobster and even less when it comes to sea scallops. We have had e-police on the boat asking for our lobster license when we were only scalloping. They hate when all of the lobster are legal. When that happens they try to find a problem with the boat so that they can at least write one warning or ticket.

 

[Bazilio777]

Has any one appealed undersized lobster violation? How did it go?