Hundreds of Connecticut lobstermen raise their voice against proposed measures that would affect the state’s lobster industry, including a five-year ban on setting traps in Long Island Sound. The state Department of Environmental Protection hosted the meeting at its marine headquarters in Old Lyme. The five-year moratorium on lobster fishing, recommended by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, would stretch from Cape Cod to Virginia. The commission regulates fishing along the entire East Coast.
Dave Simpson, the DEP’s marine fisheries director and a member of the fisheries commission, said it is very important to allow the stock to rebound in southern New England otherwise the entire market would collapse. Lobstermen, both commercial and recreational, see things differently. During the public comment portion of the meeting, many said they have been seeing an increase in lobsters in their traps.
According to lobstermen the recent measures to increase the lobster population haven’t done enough. Some of the fishermen suggested that the state relax the fishing rules for striped bass, which feed on young lobster, to help the lobster population. Arguments and suggestions from this week’s two informational meetings will be presented at the next Lobster Management Board meeting July 22. A series of public hearings will follow.
