The State Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public hearing in Vineyard Haven on Thursday, March 12 to discuss commercial and recreational fishing regulations. The public hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the Tisbury town hall.

On the agenda for public comment are:

• Recent regulations on striped bass to conform to a regionally mandated 18 per cent reduction in commercial and recreational harvest for 2020. 
• Bluefish regulations that restrict the bag limit to three fish per day for recreational anglers and five fish per day for charter vessels.
• Commercial summer flounder regulations that will increase trawler trip limits from 300 to 400 pounds and increase hook and line trip limits from 200 to 250 pounds.
• Commercial black sea bass regulations that increase trip limits from 300 to 400 pounds for pot fishermen and increase from 150 to 200 pounds for hook and line. They will also take comment on moving to a two-day per week open fishing schedule and establishing a 100-pound incidental catch limit for trawlers.
• Commercial horseshoe crab regulations that establish an incidental limit of 75 crabs for trawlers that do not hold a limited entry horseshoe crab permit.
• Commercial menhaden regulations that increase the bycatch allowance from 1,000 to 6,000 pounds.
• Adopting a 200-pound possession and landing limit for sand lance.