Catch Cut Proposal Could Trap CT Lobstermen

Lobsters are to New England what barbecue is to the South. But cracking open a Connecticut-bred crustacean might be a thing of the past if a proposed ban on lobster fishing hits the Atlantic Coast.

The American Lobster Management Board, which advises the Atlantic States Marine and Fishing Commission on lobster rules, met in Warwick, R.I., on Thursday to debate whether to impose a five-year moratorium on lobster fishing along the Eastern Seaboard from Cape Cod to North Carolina. Lobster stocks are at their lowest observable levels since the 1980s, according to a report by the commission.

The lobster board ultimately decided not to propose a ban this year but that doesn't mean the moratorium idea is dead. It could resurface the next time the board considers rule changes, according to the Associated Press. If such a ban passes, that could mean the death knell for 220 commercially licensed lobstermen in the state.

"It's like a bad dream," said John Whittaker, a commercial lobsterman operating out of Noank since 1974.

Instead of the ban, the board approved a motion to consider one of three options to rebuild lobster stocks:

• Cut lobster catch by 75 percent
• Cut lobster catch by 50 percent
• Or maintain the status quo, which includes conservation measures to protect smaller lobsters and reproductive females.

The rule change isn't likely to be adopted before next spring.

Whittaker, said he was pleased the ban was off the table, but said if the board adopts catch cuts, it will cost the lobstermen and become more difficult to compete with imports that sell for far less.

Additionally, a moratorium would hurt local restaurants. Westport restaurants such as Tavern on Main said a ban could mean a price hike for lobsters coming from Maine or Canada.

Right now a lobster roll sells for about $20, at the Tavern.

"The prices are high to begin with," said Helen Zervos, manager of Tavern. "If it increases too much then we couldn't carry it. If people won't buy it, you can't have a product that doesn't move."

Zervos said the Gulf oil spill has already caused prices to rise, but "unfortunately for us as a small business you pay for it, you can't just increase the menu price all of a sudden. So your profit margin just shrinks."

The board decided to consider a ban because southern New England lobster stocks aren't only down; they are at the lowest observable levels since the 1980s, according to an ASMFC report. Long Island Sound had about 35 million lobsters during the 1990s. That number has since plummeted to about 15 million lobsters.

While no one disagrees that the Southern New England lobster stock is down, no one agrees on how to conserve it.

Whittaker, who sits on the lobster advisory board, said lobstermen have taken steps to conserve lobsters. Foremost they raised the gauge rate – the legal length at which a lobster can be harvested.

The long-term goal of increased gauge rates is to raise egg production, but it takes time to see if that works.

"It takes from five to 10 years from egg to legal harvest," Whittaker said. "So the benefit wouldn't come to fruition until at least 2011. We're so close to seeing the benefit of this, and someone wants to change the plan."

The ASMFC, which agrees lobstermen are not over-fishing, also said the only way to turn the situation around is to reduce fishing, or possibly ban it altogether.

"If conditions improve enough to produce moderate to strong year classes, the stock might be maintained with low fishing rates, 25 percent to 50 percent of current rates, and might possibly rebuild above the threshold level within a 10-year time frame under a lower rate or no fishing," according to its written report.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal opposes the moratorium proposal. He said it would decimate the already small population of Connecticut lobstermen.

Blumenthal proposes reducing catch of egg-bearing female lobsters and setting up no-harvest areas to bolster the lobster population.

The idea to prohibit female lobsters from landing on a plate isn't new. In 2006, the Connecticut Legislature funded the V-notch program, Whittaker said. Under the program, lobstermen who caught mature female lobsters measuring 3 inches or longer cut a notch in its tail three-eighths of an inch deep.

The state paid for the notched lobsters which lobstermen tossed back into the sea. Other fishermen couldn't haul the lobster until its tail had fully re-grown. That took about a year. But the V-notch program only lasted a couple of years because it ran out of funding.

Pollution and water temperature are also cited as reasons for a declining lobster population.

"The Sound is far cleaner than it ever was, but the population hasn't rebounded," said David Carey, director of the Bureau of Aquaculture at the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

Carey said rising sea temperatures hurt lobster populations that thrive in cold-water.

In 1998, Connecticut lobstermen harvested about 3.7 million pounds, compared with 431,000 pounds in 2009, according to the ASFMC. The Sound's lobster fishery had an estimated value of $42 million in 1998. Today, lobstermen harvest only about 431,000 pounds, valued at $2.1 million, said Whittaker.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.