Articles

Federal law says only U.S.- built boats can fish commercially in U.S. waters. Lots of Canadian-built boats lobster, dredge and scallop in the waters off Maine and the other states. What’s going on here? Let’s review a few basics. A commercial fishing boat operating in...

When I was a kid, my favorite fishing spot was a narrow tidal gut, reliable for bluefish and through which the waters of Cape Pogue Bay flowed and still flow. A house sits on a low bluff hard by the gut, looking north over Vineyard Sound and the Bay, heaven on earth....

Last month I described some of the advantages of incorporation. There are other ways to create a legal “person” through which to do business. These include limited liability companies (LLCs) and the various forms of partnership. Limited liability companies first...

If you own a small business - and that includes commercial fishing operations – you’ve probably considered whether to incorporate. This is a dry subject, but important. I’ll try to keep it painless. When a business is incorporated, a new legal person is created. This...

Yes, crew agreements. Federal law requires that the owner of a fishing vessel sailing from a U.S. port and of 20 gross tons or over must have a written employment agreement with each seaman. The agreement must state the effective dates of the agreement, and “the terms...

Nobody’s idea of a good time begins with a blue flashing light in the rearview mirror, or on an approaching Marine Patrol boat. And how you react to that stop can make a big difference in whether the encounter ends as just a few minutes’ inconvenience or as the start...

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has powerful tools to enforce its laws. The typical DMR license suspension is for a court-adjudicated criminal or civil violation of a fisheries law, but other grounds exist too. When the Department receives official notice of...

You are a shipyard and have performed expensive repairs on a fishing boat or yacht. The owner isn’t too happy about the bill and disputes some of it, and he’s threatening to sue if you don’t give him the boat. Do you have to deliver the boat? Is “No cash, no splash”...