Lobster Ban Averted in South

By FV Staff

More than 75 lobstermen crowded into a hotel ball room in Warwick, RI on July 22 to voice their objections to a proposed 5 year fishing moratorium on from cape cod to North Carolina. After 5 hours of the all day meeting the American Lobster Management Board approved a motion to consider three alternatives to the 5 years ban on lobster fishing.

The three alternatives considered at the meeting were to have a 75% cut in the catch; a 50% cut in the catch; or to keep current rules which protect small lobsters and reproducing females.

The American Lobster Board’s Technical Committee had proposed the ban. The American Lobster Management Board, which is under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com- mission, held the meeting to discuss the proposed ban. Fishermen said the ban would destroy the lobster fishing industry. Both fishing businesses and shore side support businesses would disappear during such a long moratorium.

Connecticut Lobstermen’s Association member Nick Crismale said such a moratorium would have an impact on the lobster industry of “almost biblical” proportions in the damage it would cause.

Scientists are not sure why the southern New England area stocks are low, but over-fishing, the 1990 oil spill in Rhode Island and warmer water have all been considered as causes.

Lobstermen think the downturn is cyclical. They report seeing more and larger lobster and a lot of egg bearing females. Fishermen urged the board to allow the current conservation measures to produce results.

Toni Kerns, the committee chairwoman who will be looking into alternatives to the closure said she hopes to have them ready for the November 8–11, ASMFC meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. She added that even a 3 decades long moratorium, given the current environmental conditions would probably not produce a revival of lobster stock to the levels being targeted.

Fishermen from Cape Cod, Connecticut, Martha’s Vineyard, and Rhode Island agreed that the ban would kill off lobster fishermen and do nothing to bring the lobster stocks to targeted levels.

Technical Committee head and Maine Department of Marine Resources marine scientist, Carl Wilson said the stock assessment was conducted over three years using the best available science. Although fishermen are not over fishing the stock, Wilson said fishing on the already-stressed population would negatively impact the species. He said the panel wouldn't have recommended the ban if the stock was not in a weakened condition.

Catch figures at one time were about one quarter of the Northeast’s lobster harvest. The lobster population peaked at about 35 million in the late 1990s. But the stock declined to 12 million by 2003 and is estimated at about 15 million today. The lobster population in the Gulf of Maine is estimated to be about 120 million

Some fishermen thought the board would likely decide on a 50% cut. However, in the opinion of a few a 50% cut would effectively be as devastating as a complete ban.