WEST BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine — August 8, 2014 — Marine scientists and lobster harvesters in Maine's largest fishery say some fishermen may be abandoning a key conservation method practiced for nearly 100 years at a time of growing fears that a run of record hauls is coming to an end.
The mandatory practice, called v-notching, requires lobstermen to mark the tail of any egg-bearing lobster they catch and let it go. The notch lasts two to three years and alerts other lobstermen that that lobster is off-limits.
State officials say about 66 percent of egg-bearing females surveyed in 2013 were v-notched, down from nearly 80 percent in 2008.
The decline comes at a time when the state's lobster catch has boomed, growing from 70 million pounds in 2008 to more than 125 million pounds in 2013. State officials and some lobstermen said the lower percentage of v-notching could indicate waning participating in the conservation program or could mean fishermen are having trouble keeping up with notching so many lobsters.
Carl Wilson, the state's lobster biologist, said the downward trend bears monitoring.
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