Now the commercial lobster fishermen can live with a passive trap-reduction plan. The trappers gave their consent to a plan that calls for a 10-percent reduction in the number of lobster-trap certificates sold outside the fisherman’s immediate family. Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association President Karl Lessard explained that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has expressed satisfaction over its supports the reduction.
Organized Fishermen of Florida members also backed the plan. Several individual fishermen, including Bruce Irwin, Bobby Pillar, Tom Coppedge and Jeff Cramer, voiced that the reduction is acceptable since it does not reduce a working fisherman’s trap allocation. It is told that the reduction is a part of a plan to cap the number of lobster traps in Florida water at 400,000. This plan was unanimously approved by the FWC at its Thursday meeting in Key West, informed FWC.
Lessard explained that the reduction from the current 490,000-trap level is the best way to prevent more painful measures possible under federal fishing law. He also said that lowering the allowable number of traps is detrimental to the survival of the commercial fishing industry. FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto explained that the passive reduction plan is favoured by about 96 percent of the industry” because it doesn’t harm family fishing businesses.
