US lobstermen embrace catch limits

New rules, which go into effect for much of the East Coast next June, will allow the biggest lobsters to keep spawning.

from the July 25, 2007 edition

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Even lobstermen back the idea of protecting the biggest specimens.

"They're like compound interest in the bank," says Lanny Dellinger, president of the Rhode Island Lobstermen's Association in Wakefield. "It's short-sighted to take everything you can."

Lobsters have been thriving in the Gulf of Maine in recent decades, in part because juvenile stocks are replenished by large lobsters that fishermen must throw back, says Dr. Tlusty. Gulf of Maine fishermen have long been required to throw back lobsters with abdomens longer than 5 inches.

Until now, fishermen south of the gulf had free rein to harvest big lobsters, a phenomenon that has irked lobstermen up north who want the same rules to apply to all and scientists who worry about the future of the stocks. "It's really important to manage this species as a network of populations," says Dr. Wahle.

Recent efforts south of Maine could help test whether human efforts to protect the brood stock is sufficient to allow the American lobster to withstand fishing pressures and stress factors in its habitat. Even if lobstermen learn where to draw the line, experts say they might not be able to safeguard the fisheries from environmental threats such as hurricanes and the unpredictable effects of increased ocean temperatures due to global warming. "We like to think all of our conservation measures make a difference," says Wahle. "But Mother Nature plays a huge role in this."

The size rule will not completely prohibit large lobsters from being caught in US waters, says Diane Cowan, executive director of the Lobster Conservancy, a research organization for the American lobster based in Friendship, Maine. "I think it's a step in the right direction, but the problem I have with it is that it only restricts fishing in certain areas."

The rule excludes outer Cape Cod, where large lobster are currently trapped, as well as ground fishermen who are permitted to take in up to 500 lobsters per day as by-catch. "They can still be bought and sold and marketed in every state except for Maine," Dr. Cowan adds. "You can tell fishermen not to catch large lobsters, but until it's a rule that says 'no possession' – that's the word they use in Maine – they'll still be landed."

Despite the new catch size rule, it could take years – maybe decades – for the lobster stocks in southern New England to recover, says Tlusty.

Still, lobstermen like Mr. Dellinger put their faith in the large lobsters and hope for the best. "It's important to get this fishery back to where it used to be so there's a future for the next generation of fishermen," he says. "It's going to get better."

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