Sea urchin fishermen haul in good price, fair catches

Sea urchin fishermen in the Cobscook Bay area have been pleased with the number of urchins and the price they're receiving this year, although some still are chafing about the tote limit that was imposed by the state beginning last year. The early season for draggers opened in Zone 2 on October 1.
Of the seven-tote limit, Lubec fisherman Milton Chute comments, "It takes me about three hours to get mine. I could get 15 to 16 boxes if I fished for seven or eight hours."
Fishermen report that there seem to be as many urchins as there have been for the past two years, if not more. Last year at the start of the season it took the draggers all day to get their seven-tote limit, if they did get that many; this year many boats are back with their catches by noon. Chute reports that the roe count is about the same as every year, and he's been getting urchins with about a 15% roe count in the Goose Island area of Cobscook Bay.
Chute can get about 90 pounds of urchins in each tote and has been receiving $2.80 a pound. "The price is pretty good," he says, noting that he's making $1,700 to $1,800 a day.
Maine Marine Patrol officer Russell Wright of Lubec notes, "That's a good price for early in the season. The price is making up for the volume."
However, with the tote limit and the limitation on the number of days that can be fished -- only two or three days a week -- Chute comments, "I may need to get a job somewhere and do this as a sideline." He laments, "There's no more big money. We're just making a living. The government's controlling us. A good fisherman is no better than a bad fisherman now. Everyone gets the same. There's no competition any more." However, he surmises about the urchin resource, "I suppose the government has to control it or we'd fish them all up."
Last year the Department of Marine Resources had estimated that the tote limit with a 38-day season could reduce the catches by 13% in Zone 2, where the resource has continued to decline.
Chute believes there are fewer boats dragging for urchins this season, as he has seen only about 22 draggers in the bay. Last year there were over 30 draggers at the start of the season. "A lot of lobster fishermen decided on the late season" instead of the early urchin season this year, he believes. "I wouldn't want to do that. The urchins get thinned out by then."
Wright agrees that the number of draggers is down, with many lobster fishermen opting for the late season, since the lobster season is late this fall. Most of the draggers in Cobscook Bay this year are from the area. There are also eight or nine dive boats, with most of them being from other areas. Local divers usually choose the late urchin season, Wright notes.
Chute notes that there are fewer buyers this year, with only three buying in Lubec, where there used to be six or seven. He says the buyers used to bid up the price being paid to the fishermen, but he says they no longer are doing that. "They got smart and saved themselves some money."
Wright says no fishermen in the area have yet been summonsed for any violations. He comments, "I think things are going pretty smoothly right now."
Once the scallop season opens in December, some fishermen will drag for urchins in the morning and then change their drags and fish for scallops later in the day. "I did that alright last year," Chute says. He also believes that when Whiting and Dennys bays open for two days a week in December that the fishing will be good. "I imagine we'll get them real quick."