AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ Maine wants fishermen to tell state regulators what they think about a plan to create a new swipe card accountability system for the sea urchin fishery.
A proposed rule change for the coming fishing year would create a mandatory swipe card system that would record transactions when urchins are bought or sold. Comments are due to the state by Friday.
The value of Maine's urchin fishery has exceeded $4 million every year since 1990. The high year was $35.6 million in 1995. Last year's value was slightly less than $5.4 million. The proposed rules would cover the 2015-16 fishing season, which begins in September and concludes in March.