Certain Lobster Trap Tag Fees Set to Increase

The Department of Marine Resources is notifying lobster harvesters that the fees for certain trap tags will increase by a small amount for 2019. The fee increase is to cover increasing costs associated with the purchase and administration of the trap tags, resulting from a new trap tag contract. There will be no increase in the cost of initial tags, or replacement tags which are available when no more than 10 percent of a harvester’s tags are lost. Each remains 50 cents per tag. The increase will affect the cost of catastrophic loss tags, second zone tags, and tags re-issued to reflect a change in federal permit status.

Catastrophic loss tags, which are tags to replace initial tags when more than 10 percent of initial tags are lost, will increase from 10 cents to 15 cents. Second zone tags, which are required for all traps fishing in a zone other than the declared zone, will increase from 10 cents to 20 cents. Tags re-issued when a state license holder changes to or from a federally permitted status, will increase from 10 cents to 20 cents. The cost to produce lobster trap tags is established through a competitive bid process. In 2018, tag manufacturer Tyden Brooks provided the lowest cost bid that met the Department’s requirements for trap tag production, but it was a significant increase over past bids.

Revenues from the sale of lobster trap tags are deposited in the Lobster Management Fund, which supports lobster science, management and enforcement.  If the Department did not raise the fees of these specific tag types, fishermen would have been paying less for the tag than it cost to produce resulting in a negative effect on the Lobster Management Fund. With these modest increases, the Department can minimize impacts to the Lobster Management Fund and the work it supports. The Department intends to continue to explore new options for lower cost tags that meet the needs of the lobster fishery to minimize the need for any further adjustments to trap tag costs.