Four Ways to Solve the Lobster Crisis
by Toni Lilienthal
We are all responsible for this problem: fishermen, lobster buyers, and dealers. We have to stop before we ruin the industry.
This is how I would handle it:
#1. Let the fishermen haul every day.
#2. Limit the amount of catch each day according to the buyer's needs.
#3. Make fishermen accountable for their catch by setting rules as to what quality the buyer expects to pay for the lobsters, and check the lobsters to make sure the rules are followed.
#4. Pay more to the fishermen if they follow the rules set for quality and catch numbers.
All this would be very simple if every fisherman and buyer would follow these rules. The lobsters the fishermen return to their natural habitat might even end up back in their pots, healthier and stronger, instead of being part of the thousands of deads at the shore.
Toni Lilienthal has been a lobster broker for 27 years. She lives in Jonesport, Maine.