Fishermen the forgotten victims of un-Sound policies
Written by Chipp Reid
Sunday, 09 August 2009 06:19
It’s not “Deadliest Catch.”
There are no cameras, no film crews, no rock stars singing a theme song. For the few lobstermen working Long Island Sound, there isn’t much of a future either.
The 1999 die-off that all but destroyed the state’s once-thriving lobster industry continues to reverberate. When the die-off happened, Connecticut had the third-richest lobster grounds in the country, one worth $40 million a year. It employed hundreds of people, fed hundreds of families, put clothes on the backs of hundreds of children.
Today, there are less than a dozen commercial lobstermen working the Sound.
Most barely earn a living but for fishermen such as Ken Tobin of Shelton, it’s the only living they know.
“I can’t afford to fish full-time,” Tobin said. “There are too many costs with fuel going up like crazy, insurance, paying for deckhands and bait. It’s just too expensive. The sad part is, it’s what I do and I will keep on doing it until I convince myself there aren’t any lobsters left.”
Fishing has always been a family business. Tobin started fishing with his brother. Others inherited boats and traps from fathers or uncles. It isn’t just the fishermen, however, that depended on the catch. Their families did, too. When the fishery collapsed, hundreds of families were suddenly left looking for ways to keep homes and food on tables.
The state and federal government did little to help. The state bought back lobster traps from fishermen, but at a fraction of what they made when lobsters filled those same traps. Scientific study after scientific study failed to find one main factor behind the die-off, further limiting what the fishermen could do. Without a definite cause, there was no way to compensate the fishermen for what they lost.
Yet, it wasn’t just the fishermen that lost. It was all of New England. A way of life, one part of the state and region, is gone now, and isn’t just the lobstermen that disappeared. The once-mighty fishing fleet out of Stonington is down to just a handful of boats. Scallop fishermen are all but gone. Even the oyster industry, the cornerstone of the state’s remaining fisheries, is but a shadow of what it once was.
The question is, beyond those involved, who cares? Sure, there are some lawmakers such as Milford state Rep. Dick Roy, Norwalk Republican Larry Cafero and a handful of others that continually work to keep the fisheries alive, but who else? Where are the environmental groups? Why aren’t Save the Sound, Greenpeace or any groups out there pounding drums, raising support and awareness to preserve a home-grown industry?
Fishing isn’t the steel industry. There aren’t Japanese or Taiwanese lobsters flooding the market. There isn’t cheap labor manning the boats putting the old-timers out of work.
The real enemy of Connecticut’s lobstermen and other commercial fishermen is indifference. As long as the beaches are open, as long as the bluefish still run, most people view the Sound as clean and healthy. The legislature, for all its talk of preserving the environment and creating jobs, has done little to protect commercial fishing. The one program in place to restore the lobsters — the V-notch program — nearly died in the latest budget wrangle.
It has to stop.
The state, from Gov. M. Jodi Rell down to each resident, must act to save the fishing industry, not simply because it’s part of the past, but because it holds a promise of jobs for the future. If science can’t pinpoint a cause of the die-off, it’s time to listen to the fishermen — fishermen who saw the die-off happen. If federal agencies won’t act to ban chemicals such as the pesticide malathion the fishermen say killed the lobsters, it’s time for the state Environmental Protection Agency to step up and enact its own ban. And, if pesticide makers such as Scotts, or retailers such as Home Depot or Lowe’s or Ace Hardware complain, the state should simply say, “Too bad.”
The state constitution says nothing about Connecticut having a responsibility to corporations to sell any particular product. The state constitution says a lot, however, about the duty Connecticut has to protect the welfare of its residents and environment.
Any action is likely to be too late to help fishermen such as Tobin. The Shelton fishermen used to go out six days week and worked more than a thousand pots. Today, he goes at best once a week and has fewer than 200 pots.
“There are times when I don’t even know why I keep doing this other than it’s what I do,” Tobin said. “Like I said, I’ll keep fishing until I convince myself there’s nothing left to catch.”
If the state doesn’t act, that day could be coming sooner than anyone realizes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chipp Reid, a former reporter for The Press and a longtime sailor, now works for the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Written by Chipp Reid
Sunday, 09 August 2009 06:19
It’s not “Deadliest Catch.”
There are no cameras, no film crews, no rock stars singing a theme song. For the few lobstermen working Long Island Sound, there isn’t much of a future either.
The 1999 die-off that all but destroyed the state’s once-thriving lobster industry continues to reverberate. When the die-off happened, Connecticut had the third-richest lobster grounds in the country, one worth $40 million a year. It employed hundreds of people, fed hundreds of families, put clothes on the backs of hundreds of children.
Today, there are less than a dozen commercial lobstermen working the Sound.
Most barely earn a living but for fishermen such as Ken Tobin of Shelton, it’s the only living they know.
“I can’t afford to fish full-time,” Tobin said. “There are too many costs with fuel going up like crazy, insurance, paying for deckhands and bait. It’s just too expensive. The sad part is, it’s what I do and I will keep on doing it until I convince myself there aren’t any lobsters left.”
Fishing has always been a family business. Tobin started fishing with his brother. Others inherited boats and traps from fathers or uncles. It isn’t just the fishermen, however, that depended on the catch. Their families did, too. When the fishery collapsed, hundreds of families were suddenly left looking for ways to keep homes and food on tables.
The state and federal government did little to help. The state bought back lobster traps from fishermen, but at a fraction of what they made when lobsters filled those same traps. Scientific study after scientific study failed to find one main factor behind the die-off, further limiting what the fishermen could do. Without a definite cause, there was no way to compensate the fishermen for what they lost.
Yet, it wasn’t just the fishermen that lost. It was all of New England. A way of life, one part of the state and region, is gone now, and isn’t just the lobstermen that disappeared. The once-mighty fishing fleet out of Stonington is down to just a handful of boats. Scallop fishermen are all but gone. Even the oyster industry, the cornerstone of the state’s remaining fisheries, is but a shadow of what it once was.
The question is, beyond those involved, who cares? Sure, there are some lawmakers such as Milford state Rep. Dick Roy, Norwalk Republican Larry Cafero and a handful of others that continually work to keep the fisheries alive, but who else? Where are the environmental groups? Why aren’t Save the Sound, Greenpeace or any groups out there pounding drums, raising support and awareness to preserve a home-grown industry?
Fishing isn’t the steel industry. There aren’t Japanese or Taiwanese lobsters flooding the market. There isn’t cheap labor manning the boats putting the old-timers out of work.
The real enemy of Connecticut’s lobstermen and other commercial fishermen is indifference. As long as the beaches are open, as long as the bluefish still run, most people view the Sound as clean and healthy. The legislature, for all its talk of preserving the environment and creating jobs, has done little to protect commercial fishing. The one program in place to restore the lobsters — the V-notch program — nearly died in the latest budget wrangle.
It has to stop.
The state, from Gov. M. Jodi Rell down to each resident, must act to save the fishing industry, not simply because it’s part of the past, but because it holds a promise of jobs for the future. If science can’t pinpoint a cause of the die-off, it’s time to listen to the fishermen — fishermen who saw the die-off happen. If federal agencies won’t act to ban chemicals such as the pesticide malathion the fishermen say killed the lobsters, it’s time for the state Environmental Protection Agency to step up and enact its own ban. And, if pesticide makers such as Scotts, or retailers such as Home Depot or Lowe’s or Ace Hardware complain, the state should simply say, “Too bad.”
The state constitution says nothing about Connecticut having a responsibility to corporations to sell any particular product. The state constitution says a lot, however, about the duty Connecticut has to protect the welfare of its residents and environment.
Any action is likely to be too late to help fishermen such as Tobin. The Shelton fishermen used to go out six days week and worked more than a thousand pots. Today, he goes at best once a week and has fewer than 200 pots.
“There are times when I don’t even know why I keep doing this other than it’s what I do,” Tobin said. “Like I said, I’ll keep fishing until I convince myself there’s nothing left to catch.”
If the state doesn’t act, that day could be coming sooner than anyone realizes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chipp Reid, a former reporter for The Press and a longtime sailor, now works for the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
