May 3, 2016 — Southern New England’s fading lobster fishery will be subject to a battery of new regulations, possibly closed fishing areas and stricter size standards, to try to save the crustacean’s population locally.
The number of adult lobsters in New England south of Cape Cod was estimated in 2013 to be about 10 million, which is one-fifth the total from the late 1990s. Scientists issued a report last year that said the historic and economically important species is shifting northward in large part due to the warming of the ocean.
But the catches on SouthCoast have not been as bad as the numbers may indicate, local lobstermen say.
“The past three years have been the best I’ve ever seen,” said Jarrett Drake, a lobsterman in Marion for 26 years. “And that’s the same for everyone around me, the stock assessments are brought down by places off Virginia and Maryland that aren’t doing very well.”
The overall decline, however, is here to stay, said Beth Casoni, associate executive director for the Mass. Lobstermen’s Association.