Decision delayed on reducing New England lobster harvest
By Judy Benson

Publication: The Day

Published 03/25/2011 12:00 AM Updated 03/25/2011 02:04 AM

The Lobster Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has delayed until August taking the next step toward reducing the commercial lobster harvest in southern New England.

The delay, the result of a 6-4 vote by the panel at a meeting Monday, is good news for lobstermen from Connecticut, Long Island and Rhode Island who are opposed to further restrictions on the fishery. The Connecticut Seafood Council this week issued a news release expressing gratitude to U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for urging Connecticut's three-member delegation to the board to oppose the restrictions.

The board's agenda Monday included consideration of new rules to cut the harvest south of Cape Cod by up to half or more and shorten the season for the now year-round fishery, to help rebuild depleted lobster populations. Barbara Gordon, executive director of the seafood council, said in a news release that the proposal would have put Connecticut's lobstermen out of business.

"In the face of efforts to close down this historic industry, Congressman Courtney and Gov. Malloy stepped up for the Connecticut lobstermen when they needed them and thanks to them we will live to fight another day," Gordon said in a news release.

Tina Berger, spokeswoman for the fisheries commission, said the lobster board voted to wait until August to resume discussion about actions that would help restore the lobster population because a new proposal was presented at the meeting Monday. Bill McElroy, a lobster board commissioner from Rhode Island, proposed an alternative measure to reduce the number of traps allowed each commercial lobstermen by 25 percent to 50 percent. The trap reductions would be phased in gradually, she said.

The board had not been expected to take final action on Monday, but to move toward the next step in enacting new rules, such as scheduling a public hearing, Berger said. Now the hearing could not be scheduled until after the August meeting.