Conn. Program Boosts Lobster Size
By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer
July 22, 2008, 10:23 AM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A program aimed at restoring the lobster population in Long Island Sound is working well enough to keep the current minimum legal size for lobsters taken by fishermen, environmental protection officials said Monday.
But a state biologist said it is too early to tell how much of an effect the program will ultimately have on the depleted population of crustaceans.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had planned to increase the current size by 1/16 of an inch on Aug. 1. But that will be held off for at least one year because of the V-notch program, where the tails of mature female lobsters have a "V" cut into them before they're released back into the water.
The mark protects them from harvest for about two years, giving them time to grow and reproduce. Maine has long had similar V-notch regulations. Rhode Island has also had a V-notch program.
Connecticut fishermen returned the equivalent of more than 58,000 mature female lobsters between December 2007 and July 2008. That's more than 100 percent of the goal established for the first year of the program.
"Completing the first year's V-notch goal means Connecticut and New York lobstermen fishing in the Sound will not have to endure a gauge increase for at least another year," said Gina McCarthy, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Lobster fishermen have been grappling with high fuel and bait costs and low catches in recent years, she added.
The V-notch program was created to help revive a lobster population that has not recovered from a catastrophic 1999 die-off in Long Island Sound. A report released last month by the state's Council on Environmental Quality determined that lobster numbers were in decline shortly before the V-notch program began.
The DEP's annual autumn trawl in 2007 yielded the lowest number in at least two decades, according to the report.
Since 1998, Connecticut lobster catches, or landings, have dropped from 3.7 million pounds to about 560,000 pounds in 2007. Colleen Giannini, fisheries biologist with the DEP, said it is not clear yet what type of impact the V-notch program will have on the lobster population.
"I think it's still too premature to tell," she said. "Those (58,000) lobsters have to have time to grow and reproduce and that notch affords them about two years."
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, commercial landings in the Southern New England fishery increased from 5.7 million pounds in 1982 to 22.3 million pounds in 1997. They declined to 6.2 million pounds in 2005. But in the Gulf of Maine, commercial landings have steadily increased since 1981.
About a dozen Connecticut lobster fishermen participated in the V-notch program. They agreed to bring high school students from Bridgeport, Groton and New Haven to notch the lobsters, record biological data and verify the number of notched animals. In return, the fishermen received fair market value - about $6 a pound - for mature female lobsters they threw back into the water.
Because Long Island Sound is heating up because of the summer months, causing stress for the crustaceans, the notch program won't resume until the fall.
The program appeared to be in jeopardy after the Connecticut General Assembly failed to pass legislation authorizing $1.1 million because of state budget problems. But Gov. M. Jodi Rell authorized spending $90,000 - the amount of money left from the original $1 million allotment - to start it back up the fall.
The remainder of the funding will likely be debated in January during the next legislative session.
Scientists remain uncertain as to what caused the 1999 die-off in Long Island Sound. Giannini said no single cause was found following numerous studies. However, she said one common thread was water temperature and how warm water might affect a cold water species.
By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer
July 22, 2008, 10:23 AM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A program aimed at restoring the lobster population in Long Island Sound is working well enough to keep the current minimum legal size for lobsters taken by fishermen, environmental protection officials said Monday.
But a state biologist said it is too early to tell how much of an effect the program will ultimately have on the depleted population of crustaceans.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had planned to increase the current size by 1/16 of an inch on Aug. 1. But that will be held off for at least one year because of the V-notch program, where the tails of mature female lobsters have a "V" cut into them before they're released back into the water.
The mark protects them from harvest for about two years, giving them time to grow and reproduce. Maine has long had similar V-notch regulations. Rhode Island has also had a V-notch program.
Connecticut fishermen returned the equivalent of more than 58,000 mature female lobsters between December 2007 and July 2008. That's more than 100 percent of the goal established for the first year of the program.
"Completing the first year's V-notch goal means Connecticut and New York lobstermen fishing in the Sound will not have to endure a gauge increase for at least another year," said Gina McCarthy, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Lobster fishermen have been grappling with high fuel and bait costs and low catches in recent years, she added.
The V-notch program was created to help revive a lobster population that has not recovered from a catastrophic 1999 die-off in Long Island Sound. A report released last month by the state's Council on Environmental Quality determined that lobster numbers were in decline shortly before the V-notch program began.
The DEP's annual autumn trawl in 2007 yielded the lowest number in at least two decades, according to the report.
Since 1998, Connecticut lobster catches, or landings, have dropped from 3.7 million pounds to about 560,000 pounds in 2007. Colleen Giannini, fisheries biologist with the DEP, said it is not clear yet what type of impact the V-notch program will have on the lobster population.
"I think it's still too premature to tell," she said. "Those (58,000) lobsters have to have time to grow and reproduce and that notch affords them about two years."
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, commercial landings in the Southern New England fishery increased from 5.7 million pounds in 1982 to 22.3 million pounds in 1997. They declined to 6.2 million pounds in 2005. But in the Gulf of Maine, commercial landings have steadily increased since 1981.
About a dozen Connecticut lobster fishermen participated in the V-notch program. They agreed to bring high school students from Bridgeport, Groton and New Haven to notch the lobsters, record biological data and verify the number of notched animals. In return, the fishermen received fair market value - about $6 a pound - for mature female lobsters they threw back into the water.
Because Long Island Sound is heating up because of the summer months, causing stress for the crustaceans, the notch program won't resume until the fall.
The program appeared to be in jeopardy after the Connecticut General Assembly failed to pass legislation authorizing $1.1 million because of state budget problems. But Gov. M. Jodi Rell authorized spending $90,000 - the amount of money left from the original $1 million allotment - to start it back up the fall.
The remainder of the funding will likely be debated in January during the next legislative session.
Scientists remain uncertain as to what caused the 1999 die-off in Long Island Sound. Giannini said no single cause was found following numerous studies. However, she said one common thread was water temperature and how warm water might affect a cold water species.