COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 2
October 2009
CT, NY prep to raise lobster gauge, vent size in LIS – Area 6
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Lobstermen who fish in Long Island Sound (LIS) will be subject to a 1/16" gauge increase effective Jan. 1, 2010, bringing the minimum carapace length up to 3-3/8".
An increase in the corresponding minimum escape vent size to 2"x5-3/4" rectangular or 2-5/8" circular also will go into effect. However, during its Aug. 17 meeting here, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) American Lobster Management Board agreed to allow a five-month delay in the vent increase. As a result, Area 6 lobstermen will not be required to have the bigger vents in place until June 1, 2010.
Originally, the 3-3/8" minimum gauge was supposed to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2008 for Area 6. But ASMFC decided to support Connecticut’s proposal for a “conservation equivalent” v-notch program in lieu of the gauge and vent size increases (see CFN April 2009 for more info).
According to David Simpson, director of Connecticut’s Marine Fisheries Division, the v-notch program easily met its Year 1 target, with participating lobstermen notching 59,320 “legal equivalent lobsters,” which was 102.7% of the goal.
However, participants only were able to notch 9,065 legal equivalent lobsters in Year 2 as of July 31, achieving only 15.7% of the target.
And then, said Simpson, “Funding provided for the program by the state of Connecticut was exhausted and the program was suspended.”
Many Area 6 lobstermen fought for additional financial support from the Connecticut Legislature to continue the successful program, but, given the state’s troubled fiscal climate and competing interests for state funds, additional money was not forthcoming.
Backstop kicks in
Consequently, an ASMFC “backstop” provision kicked in, which required implementation of the minimum gauge and escape vent size in the event that v-notching targets weren’t met.
Simpson said Connecticut was fully prepared to move forward and implement the increases. But he asked the lobster board for leniency on the vent size date.
“Given the number of traps and vents that need to be changed out, we’d like to see this delayed until the start of the fishing year on June 1,” he said.
Long Island Sound Lobstermen’s Association President John German strongly supported an extension.
“From a safety point of view, I would hate to see people go out to change vents in adverse conditions just to stay in compliance,” he said. “June 1 would be much better for safety reasons, and it’s traditionally when we change things anyway.”
Jim Gilmore, chief of New York’s Bureau of Marine Resources, warned the board that his agency could implement the vent size increase via regulation, but the gauge increase would need to go through the Legislature, which might make meeting the Jan. 1 deadline more difficult in New York.
Connecticut and New York are the only two states that implement regulations for Area 6, which is entirely within state waters.
Janice M. Plante
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
