August 12, 2010 – A government plan to impose a five-year moratorium on lobster fishing in the Southern New England area, which includes the waters off Long Island, might have been shelved for the time being, but fishermen say alternatives aimed at cutting their harvest by half or three- quarters, would destroy the industry nonetheless.
Citing reproductive failure and other effects of a steady rise in ocean temperature since 1999, scientists with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recommended the drastic fishing ban in early June. The Southern New England industry, which includes lobstermen from Cape Cod to North Carolina, responded with a mix of bewilderment and anger.
Last month, state and federal representatives, including State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., and Senator Charles Schumer, were successful at getting federal managers to agree to look at less draconian options.
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