According to a lobsterman from Marion the luxury of having enough time to haul much of the lobster before sunset is no more. Now, because of the dwindling lobster population, a multistate commission will begin deciding this week whether to ban all lobstering from south of Cape Cod to North Carolina for five years. The lobstermen fearing if the government shut down lobstering they have to lose their business.
Scientists working for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recommended the ban in April. They believe that it is only way to stop an alarming decline in lobster stocks — down to an estimated 15 million from a peak of more than twice that a decade ago in the Southern New England region.
The lobsters are also subject to more biological stress in deeper waters, where increased competition for food, predation, and susceptibility to disease could be contributing to the deflated lobster numbers. J. Stanley Cobb, a lobster specialist and oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island, said that everything is falling apart and it is a time for fundamental change. In the cold waters farther north in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, where the majority of New England’s catch comes from, lobsters remain abundant.
Apart from dwindling stocks of lobster fishers are also afraid of increased regulation, the rising cost of maintenance, and the ever-watchful eye of environmentalists. State officials said they recognize the ripple effects a ban would cause throughout fishing communities. Yet they remain adamant that immediate action is needed to keep the lobster fishery sustainable in the long run.
