Ban On Lobster Fishing Considered

Connecticut’s environmental agency is holding informational meetings next week in Old Lyme and in New Haven to discuss ideas for managing the lobster catch. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports the federal government is considering banning lobster fishing in southern New England for five years.

Ever since 1999 when fishermen hauled up traps of dieing lobsters in Long Island Sound, biologists have been closely tracking the health of the animals. Colleen Giannini of the Department of Environmental Protection says when state fisheries scientists drag nets through the water to survey the population they’re pulling up fewer lobsters every year.

“In the last six years in the spring survey and in the last eight years in the fall survey we’ve seen the lowest numbers of lobsters come on board in those surveys. So...we’re seeing very low numbers of animals compared to what we saw in the early and mid-90s before the die-off.”

The survey numbers have also decreased from Cape Cod to New Jersey. And the catch has also declined. From 1998 to 2008 there was about an 88 % drop in the catch in Connecticut.

Government fishery managers are already using several approaches to prevent the over-harvesting of lobsters such as: increasing the size of a legal lobster and putting a moratorium on new lobster fishing licenses. Stonington fisherman Michael Grimshaw, the President of the Southern New England Fishermen and Lobstermen’s Association says the government should give these management measures a chance.

“We’ve already done enough. We want a status quo. Leave it the way it is. Let the measures take effect. They’re jumping the gun and already they’re starting something else before this is even finished. It’s not in the dire state they say it is.

The Atlantic States Fisheries Management Commission is considering a range of options, including a five-year ban on lobster fishing in southern New England waters.

For WNPR, I’m Nancy Cohen.