Without rules, species would be overfished, but we don’t always have the data to justify the rules. Contradictions in the red crab fishery perfectly illustrate the tug-of-war that happens in fishery regulation.
Are red crab sustainable or not? Are fishermen getting a raw deal based on a bad market year, or are lower limits necessary to protect the species?
No one seems to know, and the most troubling thing is how familiar this sounds to anyone who follows New England fisheries.
Even when the science is good, interest groups debate its validity to no end. With red crab, the science is far too limited.
Perhaps, as with scallop research conducted by UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology, scientific evaluation of the crab population will mean good news for fishermen as well as for conservation.