August 1, 2022 — A federal commission will discuss increasing the minimum legal size of caught lobsters or other management measures to respond to a decline in numbers of juvenile lobster in recent years.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to discuss proposed measures to protect the spawning stock of lobster in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank on Tuesday in Arlington, Va.
Measures the commission will be considering include increasing the minimum legal harvestable size of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine by up to 1/8 inch in increments, either scheduled proactively or triggered by a decline in abundance of young lobsters.
Maine lobstermen say the measures come at a bad time, when they are already struggling to comply with new federal regulations to protect endangered right whales from entanglement in fishing gear, and they are facing economic challenges with the price of bait and fuel at record highs coupled with low prices they are getting for their catch at the dock.
The Maine lobster industry is known for its sustainability, with strong conservation measures already in place to protect the spawning stock. These include a maximum harvestable size limit of 5 inches, and protections against harvesting egg-bearing females through a mandatory V-notching program, in which a V-shaped cut is made into the tail of a female bearing eggs. It is illegal to keep females with this mark even if they are caught when they’re not bearing eggs.
Though the commission has determined that lobster stock is not depleted and overfishing is not occurring now, the proposed actions are intended to protect landings from potentially dropping past 100 million pounds in for the Gulf of Maine and Georges Banks because of the economic impacts that could result. They cite the example of Southern New England where the fishery collapsed after a trend of declines in juvenile lobsters.
At Lobster Zone Council meetings this spring, Maine lobstermen expressed frustration about the proposal because they say they face far greater threats to the fishery through new and upcoming federal measures to protect right whales than they do from declines in abundance when landings are still high. Rather than making size limit adjustments, some have argued, efforts should be directed toward gathering data about the shifts in right whale habitat and causes of right whale deaths, because they do not believe Maine lobster gear is to blame.