CT DEEP Proposing New Rules For Lobster, Striped Bass, Others

CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection this week announced its intent to modify regulations governing fisheries for whelk, horseshoe crab, lobster and striped bass.

The proposed regulatory changes are intended to address the "depleted state of these ecologically and economically important species in Long Island Sound," according to DEEP officials.

"These proposed regulations provide necessary protections for depleted species that are both important to the Long Island Sound ecosystem and the economy of coastal Connecticut," DEEP Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Mason Trumble said. "DEEP is committed to protecting these resources to ensure they continue to provide both ecosystem and economic benefits to future generations."

Here is an overview:

Whelk

Whelks are large marine snails that support an economically important commercial fishery in Atlantic coastal states between Massachusetts and Virginia. New York and Connecticut are the only remaining states within this range that have not yet implemented regulations on their whelk fisheries. There are currently no seasonal restrictions or limits on the numbers and sizes of whelk that commercial fishers can take from Long Island Sound, or on the amount of whelk traps or "pots" that an individual fisher may use. Data available to DEEP suggests that whelk abundance has declined substantially within Long Island Sound over recent decades, with whelk catches in the DEEP Long Island Sound Trawl Survey falling by approximately 90 percent over the past 20 years.

Proposed Regulation: In response to concerns that whelk have become overfished, DEEP has proposed a 5.5-inch minimum shell length limit for whelk harvest, driven by research from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) showing that female whelk in Long Island Sound do not become sexually mature and produce eggs until reaching this size. The proposed 5.5-inch length limit is intended to rebuild whelk populations, is within the range of size limits implemented in other Atlantic coastal states and is consistent with rules currently proposed by DEC for NY state waters including Long Island Sound. If implemented, DEEP and DEC data suggests the proposed rules will likely produce a 40-60 percent reduction in commercial whelk harvest from Long Island Sound.

Horseshoe Crab

Horseshoe crabs, often referred to as "living fossils," given that they evolved well over 400 million years ago, are an iconic marine invertebrate species that lives along the entire U.S. Atlantic coast. In 2019, a scientific assessment conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) concluded that horseshoe crab populations in Long Island Sound were depleted and in need of conservation. ASMFC subsequently requested that Connecticut and New York take regulatory action to reduce horseshoe crab harvest. The commercial fishery for horseshoe crabs in Connecticut, which occurs almost entirely via hand collection of horseshoe crabs from coastal spawning beaches during spring and early summer, is carried out by a relatively small number of commercial fishers licensed by DEEP. Harvested crabs are used as bait in commercial whelk and American eel fisheries. Approximately 12-15 harvesters participate in the horseshoe crab fishery annually, harvesting between 15,000-30,000 crabs; annual landings have steadily decreased over the last decade.

Proposed Regulation: DEEP is proposing new rules consistent with those already implemented by New York in 2020: 5-day harvest closures around important spawning periods during new/full moon phases in late May and early June, as well as a reduction in the daily commercial possession limit from 500 to 150 crabs. DEEP estimates that the proposed regulations will result in an approximate 62 percent reduction in annual crab harvests.

Lobster

American lobsters once supported a substantial commercial fishery within Long Island Sound, but lobster abundance and commercial landings have dwindled to a small fraction of previous levels following a large-scale lobster die-off in the early 2000s. As part of ongoing efforts to conserve Long Island Sound lobsters, ASMFC mandated in 2013 that Connecticut and New York implement an annual fall fishery closure from September 8 – November 28. In Connecticut, commercial fishers have been allowed to leave lobster pots in Long Island Sound during the fall closure for purposes of fishing for whelk.

Proposed Regulation: A new rule proposed by DEEP would require fishers targeting whelk with lobster pots during the fall closure to remove or fasten open the top door on the pots. This rule is intended to avoid accidental bycatch and mortality of lobsters and finfish within lobster pots during the fall closure (whelk can still be effectively trapped within open-topped pots).

Striped Bass

Striped bass are perhaps the most sought-after recreational sportfish within Long Island Sound, generating hundreds of thousands of angler trips and millions of dollars of economic activity. Unfortunately, striped bass populations along the Atlantic coast have steadily declined since reaching historic abundances in the late 1990s-early 2000s, largely a result of poor spawning success in important coastal nursery areas and high rates of fishing pressure.

Proposed Regulation: In 2020, ASMFC mandated Atlantic coastal states to implement a suite of conservation measures intended to rebuild striped bass populations, including a requirement for use of circle hooks when recreationally fishing for striped bass with bait. Circle hooks are specially designed to minimize hooking injury to fish and thus improve chances of post-release survival. DEEP previously implemented the circle hook rule via emergency regulation in 2020 and is seeking to make the rule permanent via the proposed regulation.

Additional information concerning the proposed rule changes are available through the eRegulations system available via the Secretary of State’s website https://eregulations.ct.gov/eRegsPortal under Case No. PR2021-027.

Interested parties may submit written comments on the proposed rules through 5 p.m. on Dec. 19, via the eRegulations system, by U.S. mail to the attention of Justin Davis, DEEP Marine Fisheries Office, PO Box 719, Old Lyme, CT 06371; or by e-mail to deep.marine.fisheries@ct.gov.

The DEEP has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed rules on Dec. 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the Clinton Town Hall Auditorium, 50 East Main St. (Route 1) in Clinton. The public hearing will adjourn at 9 p.m. or earlier if the last person signed in to provide comment has spoken.