Regulators want to reduce lobster fishing in Southern New England

[LuckyLady]

Regulators want to reduce lobster fishing in Southern New England

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, February 26, 2011

By Paul Davis

Journal Staff Writer




Rhode Island’s lobstermen have weathered an oil spill, a recession and a net full of regulations.

Now they face a threat that could end their livelihoods, they say.

Biologists and regulators are working on ways to reduce lobster fishing in southern New England by 50 or 75 percent. The drastic step is needed, they say, if the region’s lobster population is to survive.

But local fishermen, who met Thursday night, say the plan could ruin the state’s $10-million lobster industry and put more than 200 lobstermen out of business.

“You are sending these men on a suicide mission,” said Jamestown attorney Kathleen Golini at an advisory board meeting at the state Department of Environmental Management’s headquarters in Providence.

“A lot of bad things will come from this,” said Golini, who represents lobsterman Christopher Lutyens.

A development team with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on the plan. The group will meet on March 21 in Alexandria, Va., although it’s unlikely a plan will be approved until later this year, said ASMFC spokeswoman Tina Berger.

Officials last summer backed off a five-year ban on lobster fishing, after fishermen said it would have a “biblical” impact on the industry.

That ban is now on the back burner, “but it’s always looming,” said Mark Gibson, deputy chief of fish and wildlife for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

The commission could reduce fishing through quotas or by limiting the number of traps lobstermen can use, but nothing has been decided yet, said Berger.

Scientists say the stock has been depleted by an increase in predators, shell disease and climate change.

Rhode Island lobstermen are preparing for the worst.

On Thursday, the Lobster Conservation Management Team –– an advisory board of local fishermen –– voted to ask the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to do nothing more to regulate lobstermen.

Earlier regulations calling for larger gauge sizes, escape vents in traps and fewer lobster pots have already resulted in fewer catches, they said.

Reducing catches by another 50 percent or 75 percent would put most fishermen out of business, said Point Judith lobsterman and advisory board member Al Christopher.

“If you take 50 percent of our traps, or 50 percent of our catch, that’s not much different than a moratorium,” said the 69-year-old lobsterman.

“That’s a slow death,” he said.

“Every year we dump thousands and thousands of dollars into the economy,” added North Kingstown lobsterman Steve Seymour, who said he may not buy new equipment this year because new regulations could cut his income in half.

Other lobstermen said the problem will take care of itself over time.

Many lobstermen are in their 50s and 60s, and few young fishermen are getting into the business, they say. Others have left the business because overregulation, low lobster prices and high fuel costs have made it unprofitable.

“Boats are leaving the Point. People are leaving the industry. The economics are not there,” said lobsterman Michael Marchetti.

“I used to be the kid. But I’m 45 now, and I don’t see too many people younger than me.”

Dan McKiernan, part of the group working on the catch reduction plan, said members are moving slowly and carefully. They don’t want to propose regulations that can’t be enforced, he said.

“We’re struggling,” said McKiernan, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “We’re meeting every week.”

The southern New England region includes fishing waters south of Cape Cod down to North Carolina.

Much is at stake.

Fishermen in 2009 landed $10 million in lobsters, part of Rhode Island’s $65 million fishing industry, Gibson said. The value of the state’s lobster industry is second only to squid fishing.

But the total catch in 2009 was 3.3 million pounds, less than half of what was landed in 1996.

According to the biologists recommending a moratorium, lobster populations in southern New England have dropped to less than 25 percent of a high point in 1997.

They are suffering from warming water temperatures, shell disease and an increase in predators such as striped bass and dogfish, they said.

Management is needed because the stock is in trouble, Gibson said.

“It’s like the flu. If you’ve got the flu, you’ve got to stay on the couch and get well. It’s the same with lobsters. Any fishing on top of a sick resource may be more than the resource can bear.”

Most local fishermen dispute the scientific findings. They say they see younger lobsters. The stock is healthy and plentiful, they say.

There will be no industry if regulators reduce fishing by 50 percent or more, said 55-year-old Middletown lobsterman Bob Braman, who fished in Newport on Wednesday.

“There will be no lobster boats and no inshore fleet anymore,” he said. “There has to be a balance. But the only thing they want to limit is us.”



Article Comments

kismet marine inc
10:22 PM on February 28, 2011



I'd like to take Mark Gibson out fishing.... just for a couple of days. I would treat him to a Raymond Palombo Sr. style beat down!. After twenty-four hours he'd be dust.
Oh.... sorry if I offended any of you.
Lobsters are pre-Ice Age and will prevail long after any of us.

Along with many among the government workforce... RIDEM regulatory officials are scrambling to save their jobs. It stands to reason that they might have a tactic or two up their sleeves.

Without a crisis within any specific fishery... they are out of a job. Maybe they might look in the mirror and question their morality.

The FACT IS... is that regardless of many issues within our Bay concerning water quality... as well as predators (an over abundance of Black Sea Bass, Striped Bass, Tautog, Dogfish, Fluke... all of which are voracious consumers of juvenile lobsters.... the overall lobster population in Southern New England seems to be healthy.

URI trawl surveys indicate an exact parallel to those conducted during the mid-eighties... though Mark and CO. are beyond reluctant to admit... to tell you that.

Enough already! We are honest, hard working men only trying to survive this already difficult time in our countries history. I cannot speak for anyone other than myself... but despite much in the way of effort to put me out of business coming from our state officials (RIDEM).... I will not go away.

How 'bout we reduce our DEM workforce by 50-75%?
Oh God forbid.



Prozo
10:00 AM on February 27, 2011


HMMM..... In the FY 2006 US Budget, Sen Reed got this earmark added: "The bill contains $3 million for the National Sea Grant College Program to establish a cooperative research program to study the causes of lobster disease and the decline in the lobster fishery in New England waters."

And this is what the public got for their dough in 2010 from the NE Lobster Initiative:

"What the initiative was not able to determine was the issue
of cause versus effect. In other words, did lobsters have all
these changes as a result of shell disease? Or did they get
shell disease because they were already compromised? The
only way to clarify this is a longer term study where researchers induce shell disease in healthy lobsters and have beforeand-after data. However, researchers pondered whether there were any lobsters that could be deemed “healthy” even if they did not show symptoms of the disease. It might not be valid to compare Maine (apparently healthy—lobsters there have a low incidence of shell disease) to Rhode Island lobsters since they are different genetically."

Money down the drain...this is why the public is sick and tired of wasted taxpayer dollars WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT!!!!!! except a lame staement that they were "not able to determine was the issue of cause versus effect."

G-d help us if he ends up Sec of Defense.






South County Bob

That was a great post. It gives some credence to "most local fishermen dispute the scientific findings."

I am so sick of faceless governement workers putting out laws without any scientific foundation. I tried looking up reasons for these bans and the basis seems to be just unproven conjectures.


Melissa48
8:25 AM on February 27, 2011



I don't like to see the fishermen lose their jobs, but i would like to see the illegals reduce by 75% in R I

GrumpyOldGuy
5:49 AM on February 27, 2011



How, oh how, did we ever survive without all of these regulations? Seems to me that if we got the regulators out of the way, things might just get better.

Wrong Side Surgery
7:04 PM on February 26, 2011



Best of luck to all lobster-men/women.
Unlike our friends on the "right" I will NEVER celebrate, when someone looses his/her livelihood. wether
he/her is a teacher, carpenter, plumber, firefighter or even a Tea-Party staffer.
We are ALL in this boat together

Be Well All
.


falcon23
3:49 PM on February 26, 2011

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore falcon23. Show DetailsHide Details

You know why the Striped bass are eating all the small
Lobsters ? Because their real food Pogies are being caught
by the Purse Seiners. The pogy population is down because of
the Pogy Boats !!! Get rid of the Pogy boats. Here is the catch 22. The lobster industry uses the Pogy's for bait.
Every time the State tries to get rid of the Pogy Boats in the
Bay. The lobster industry lobbies against it. So by lobbying against the Pogy Boats the pogies are decimated. The Stripers have to eat something so they eat the baby lobsters. Its like one big circle. Lay off the Pogies, let the
Stripers eat pogies, use by- catch fish for lobster bait, and
there will be more Lobsters. Just let mother nature do her thing. That's why its called the circle of life !!!

[Relentlessfishing]

Very interesting that the biologists say dogfish are part of the problem whe they are also saying they are an endangered species WTF!!!@