Southern New England Sees Fewer Lobsters, More Regulation
Southern New England's fading lobster fishery will be the subject of a battery of new regulations to try to save the crustacean's population locally.
The Interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's American Lobster Management Board voted on Monday to use new management measures to address lobster decline, which they estimate at an 80% reduction since the late 1990s.
Jim Kendall of New Bedford Seafood Consulting says the reduction is not a product of overfishing, and the knee-jerk reaction by the Commission is unfair. "They have no control over the weather and, oftentimes, overpollution. And each time it's thrown on the backs of the fishermen to make the difference," says Kendall.
The Lobster Board says new regulations will be fully phased in by June 2019 and could include things like closed seasons, closed fishing areas and trapping cutbacks.
Scientists say one of the chief reasons for the northward shift is that the ocean is getting warmer.