Money Move$ overtaking Old School, Stonington lobster boat races July 7, 2019. With operating expenses increasing for lobster fishing, money, either not enough or lots in offshore landings, is a forefront issue. While references to it appear in boat names, whale rope regulations and bait supply appear tied for greatest concern among lobstermen. Fishermen’s Voice photo.
Maine: The Best
Lobster Regs?
by Diane Cowan
Diane Cowan is Senior Scientist at The Lobster Conservancy in Friendship, Maine.
At this time of year, all anyone in coastal Maine talks about is lobster. Great! My favorite subject. These days lobster fishermen are preoccupied with concerns about right whales and bait. Government scientists, in the throes of a stock assessment, are plagued by climate change and the dramatic decline of the lobster fishery in Southern New England.
If lobstermen want to continue talking about lobsters, we need to protect the large breeder lobsters that sustain the lobster fishery. Large lobsters are in trouble. When the Today Show reported, “Costco is selling giant lobster claws and they’re really freaking people out,” I felt sick. These claws came from the very lobsters we need to take care of to ensure the long-term survival of the
