BREWER, Maine — A divided state scallop advisory council ignored the recommendations of fisheries experts with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and proposed the same number of fishing days for next season.

DMR staff proposed a shorter season in all zones with the same daily scallop harvest limits as before. The agency suggested 48 scallop fishing days for Zone 1 and Zone 2 and 32 days for Zone 3, which is the Cobscook Bay region.

Instead, members of the 13-member council, which is made up of fishermen, dealers and other industry officials to advise DMR, voted at their meeting Monday to recommend the same number of fishing days for next season — 70 days for Zones 1 and 2, and 50 days for Zone 3. (Scallop fishermen did not get all those days in the last season; by emergency action, the agency curtailed the scallop harvest — notably in the Cobscook Bay region, where the number of days was trimmed to 33.)

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