June 12, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA:
At the request of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which has the lead for American lobster management, NOAA Fisheries today announced proposed measures to control trap fishing effort in Area 2 (Federal inshore waters–Southern New England) and the Outer Cape Area (Federal inshore waters east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) and to provide a way for lobster fishermen to scale their businesses to optimum efficiency through the purchase and sale of lobster trap allocations.
Proposed measures include capping the number of Federal lobster trap permits in these two areas based on a permit’s lobster trap fishing history and implementation of a transferable trap program in Area 2, the outer cape and Area 3 (offshore fishery from Maine to North Carolina). Implementation of these measures would ensure consistency in management between state and federal waters as similar measures have already been approved for state waters. As always, we welcome your comments on these proposed measures. The deadline for submitting comments is July 29.
Click here for more information. To view the federal register notice, click here and then on tab that says June.
PLEASE NOTE: We have updated our American Lobster Page. Check it out and let us know what you think.