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A lobster dinner is
synonymous with summer in Connecticut, but in recent years, the health of the
local lobster industry has been in doubt. It is still recovering from a massive
1999 lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, a local environmental disaster that
still triggers debate over its causes.
This week a glimmer of hope. The state Department of Environmental Protection
reports that the so-called "V-notch" program for lobsters has attained the level
of success needed to prevent--at least for a year—any
increase in the minimum legal size for lobsters taken from the Sound.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission could have ordered a 1/16th of
an inch boost on August 1st, but the DEP now says that will not be necessary to
protect the lobster population. That tiny measurement may seem like nothing to
you, but to lobstermen (and women), it’s a big deal.
Media reports indicate such an increase in legal minimum size could result in a
significant drop in the size of the overall lobster haul. The cost of fuel and
bait are up, so any new restrictions on catch size could have caused lobster
boat owners to keep their vessels at the dock.
The "V-notch" program uses lobstermen and students from three coastal
Connecticut high schools with marine science programs. They cut "V-notches" in
the tail flippers of mature female lobsters and toss them back into the Sound.
The effort protects these lobsters from harvest for at least two years giving
them time to grow and reproduce.
Lobster fishers who "V-notch" females found in their traps, returning them to
the water, receive compensation with government funds. DEP officials says
fishermen from Connecticut and New York returned the equivalent of 58,000 mature
lobsters to the Sound from December 2007 to July 2008. That meets the goal set
for the first year of the "V-notch" effort, enough to prevent federal changes in
legal lobster size.
Recently, Gov. Jodi Rell agreed to allow $90,000 left over from the 2007
"V-notch" program to carry over into the new fiscal year to keep the program
going. Money is needed to compensate fishermen, and provide insurance for high
school students participating in the program.
The students act as "notchers" on lobster boats, and as monitors who log the
number of lobsters "notched" and returned to the Sound. The students
"accounting" is used to determine how much compensation lobstermen deserve.
Bart Mansi, a Guilford lobsterman who serves on the Lobster Restoration Advisory
Committee, says the "V-notch" program marks the "first time industry,
management, and education have teamed up to work together on an issue and we
want to continue this kind of cooperation into the future."
It will take more than simple cooperation to fully restore the lobster industry
in Long Island Sound. Scientists continue to study the effects of disease, water
quality, climate change, and human impact on lobsters in Long Island Sound.
Countering the positive vibes generated by the success of the "V-notch" program
is the sobering evidence in the state DEP's annual autumn trawl to sample the
population of marine species in the Sound. After signs that the lobster
population was stabilizing after 2003, the 2007 trawl turned up the lowest
number of lobsters in 20 years. Hopefully, this fall's survey will show
improvement.
Posted 7/22/08
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