Maine Saltwater Fishing: Registry, Limits and What You Can Actually Keep

Most people plan a Maine fishing trip around freshwater and then discover the coast. Both are worth doing, but they run under completely separate rulebooks: inland waters are Maine IFW’s, and saltwater belongs to the Department of Marine Resources. The licence you buy for one does not automatically behave the way you expect on the other.

This page covers the saltwater side: what you need before you cast, what you may keep, and what you must put back.

The $1 registry almost nobody mentions

Maine requires you to enrol annually in the Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry to fish recreationally in salt water. It costs $1, and you must carry proof at all times while fishing or transporting a catch.

You are exempt if any of these apply:

• You are under 16
• You hold a valid Maine freshwater fishing licence. Note the trap: a Lifetime Licence does not cover you
• You hold a Maine DMR commercial fishing licence
• You are already registered or licensed for saltwater fishing in another state, or with the National Registry
• You are fishing as a passenger on a licensed for-hire charter or party boat
• You are a Maine resident fishing salt water only on Memorial Day weekend, July 4th, or Labor Day weekend
• You are a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, or the Aroostook Band of Micmacs
• You are fishing from a dock, pier or wharf owned by a Smelt-Wharf Operator Licence holder, or renting a smelt camp from one

The practical shortcut: buy the freshwater licence and you are covered for both. If you only intend to fish the coast, you still owe the state a dollar. Register online through DMR’s LEEDS system, by post, or in person in Augusta.

What you can keep, 2026

All minimum lengths are total length, not fork length. Selling your catch is prohibited.

Species	Minimum size	Daily bag	Season
Striped bass	28 to 31 inches (slot)	1	Year round statewide, river exceptions
Atlantic cod	23”	1	September 1 to October 31 only
Haddock	17”	15	Closed March 1 to 31
Pollock	None in state waters	No limit	Year round
Atlantic mackerel	None	25	Year round
Bluefish	None	5	Year round
Black sea bass	13”	10	May 19 to Sept 21, Oct 18 to Dec 31
Winter flounder	12”	8	Year round
Summer flounder	20”	2	Year round
Cusk, tautog, cunner	None	No limit	Year round
Atlantic halibut	41”	5 per vessel per year	May 18 to June 13

Cod is the one that surprises people. One fish, over 23 inches, and only in September and October. Haddock is the opposite: fifteen a day, closed only for the month of March. If you are booking a groundfish trip and want to bring dinner home, haddock is the realistic target.

Pollock has no size or bag limit in Maine’s territorial waters, which makes it the most generous fish on the coast. Step into federal waters, more than three miles out, and a 19-inch minimum applies.

What you may not keep at all

• Atlantic wolffish. Possession is prohibited outright.
• Coastal sharks, including shortfin mako, may not be taken in Maine’s territorial waters.
• Sea-run Atlantic salmon are endangered and closed to all fishing.
• Bluefin tuna and offshore sharks (blue, porbeagle, common thresher) require a federal Highly Migratory Species permit from NOAA, not a state one.

Gear rules worth knowing before you buy tackle

Striped bass carries the tightest gear rules on the coast. Hook and line only, no gaffing. Circle hooks are required by law whenever you fish bait for striped bass. No bait on treble hooks, and no more than two trebles on any lure or fly.

Bluefish follows the same treble hook and circle hook restrictions.

Black sea bass is hook and line only.

Halibut has the most specific rules of all: 14/0, 15/0 or 16/0 circle hooks, no more than 100 hooks per person and per vessel, and no fishing on Wednesdays or Thursdays during its short open window.

Otherwise, DMR’s general rule is broad: you may take fish by speargun, harpoon, minnow trap, hand dip net, or hook and line, for personal use.

Where the fishing actually is

From shore. Striped bass move into estuaries, around rocky points and along beaches from June into October. The Kennebec River mouth and the southern beaches are the classic striper ground. Mackerel are the friendliest fish on this list for beginners and children, caught from piers and wharves with simple jigs, no minimum size and a 25 fish limit.

Around structure. Pollock and cunner hold on ledges and around islands. Pollock’s absence of any size or bag limit in state waters makes it a forgiving target.

Over soft bottom. Winter flounder in shallower water, summer flounder further south and offshore.

Offshore, by charter. Cod, haddock, cusk and halibut come from deeper ledges and wrecks. Booking a licensed for-hire boat also removes the registry question entirely, since passengers on licensed charters are exempt.

Timing

Season sets what is legal, but water temperature and pressure decide whether fish feed. Best Days to Fish scores individual days on solunar timing, moon phase and barometric pressure, and it has pages for the species you will actually be targeting here: striped bass, flounder and black sea bass.

Before you go

The DMR regulations state they are current as of 1 July 2026 and subject to change, and the striped bass slot in particular has moved more than once in recent years under Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission action. Check DMR’s regulations page before a trip rather than trusting any figure, including this one, that you found on the internet.

For freshwater, including the North and South zone system and the State Heritage Fish waters, see the Maine trout fishing guide and the complete Maine fishing guide.