AUGUSTA – An in-depth report on the Maine Department of Marine Resources says the department needs to be restructured and its activities must be prioritized.

The department isn’t structured or managed now in a way to carry out its purpose as stated under Maine law, according to the 90-page document, which was released Friday afternoon.

The review contains more than three dozen recommendations, ranging from staffing and fiscal matters to fishery management, lobster processing and aquaculture.

One recommendation is for the state to initiate a process to gradually cut the number of lobster traps in Maine waters, to reduce pressure on the state’s most valuable fishery.

The report and its recommendations should help officials determine how the Department of Marine Resources is reorganized and how it sets priorities, said Gov. Paul LePage.

“Staff is dedicated and professional, but it is time to refocus and rethink the direction of the department,” he said.

The report was compiled by three out-of-state, independent consultants with a combined 133 years of experience in fisheries management, science and private fishing business operations.

Maine’s commercial fishing harvest in 2010 was valued at $452 million, with a final value to the Maine economy estimated at $1 billion to $1.2 billion.

There are opportunities to increase the economic value and job growth in the fishing economy by rebuilding and managing fish stocks for sustainability and adopting policies to make “Maine a more fish business-friendly state,” the report says.

The state should act to diversify sources of income for commercial fishermen so the fishing economy isn’t so reliant on lobster, which accounts for 70 percent of the value of the state’s seafood harvest, the report says.

“Failure to do so could jeopardize a number of coastal communities, should there be even a slight decline in the lobster resource in the future,” the report says.

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