By Sheila Dassatt
In last month’s article, it was called “Where’s the Logic?” I’d like to explain just a little bit in this article what I am driving at. The article went over such issues as the expense of setting up windmills in the water, which is totally not feasible. The expenses and the erosion and chances that are being taken just don’t fit into a logical plan. These windmills are just another brainstorm aiming at green energy. Now I understand why folks may want to do their part about green energy, but let’s be fair about this. One question that we’re all pondering about is “why is Maine such a target for all of these issues?” Whales, windmills, ropeless gear?
An issue that the State of Maine lobster industry is contending with now is the science behind the status of our lobster biomass. The science is showing (according to people behind a desk) our lobster biomass is not as strong as it once was. In the year 2000 Maine landed over 53 million pounds of lobsters to a high of 132 million pounds in 2016. Since then, our landings have tapered off. The question is, what is happening?
People are saying that we should react now before it’s too late or our fishery could collapse. Around 1990, Maine increased their measure and escape vents to try to rebuild our depleted lobster stock. Many people contribute the success of the lobster increase on this particular move. This is possibly true, but at the same time, we also had a collapsing ground fish fishery. It is of some opinions that the collapse of the ground fish played a roll in the survival of many juvenile lobsters. Another point that could be thought about is the fact that many ground fishermen went lobstering after the collapse. Maine saw an increased effort put on the lobster fishing with more fishermen and more traps. So over a period of time, it would only increase our landings because of increased effort. The bottom line here basically comes down to less predatory fish to eat the juvenile lobsters so they had a higher survival rate also being protected by the vent and gauge increase.
Some say that this is a great success which at the time, it was. Another helping hand was the moratorium put on lobster licenses and the introduction of zones and trap limits. The Gulf of Maine and Southern New England as well as Mid Atlantic waters were turned into management zones overseen by the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Council. With this, also the State of Maine divided into several zones as well.
With all of this being said, Maine has always maintained the strictest lobster conservation plan to date. We maintained our minimum size measure, protection of oversize lobsters as well as our female eggers by V-notching. Many of the other states were late to adopt to these principles and their fishery for lobster is basically collapsed. One other thing that the State of Maine banned was the landing of lobsters by drag. What makes it hard for the fishermen of Maine to accept is when ASMFC tries to tell us that we need to increase our gauge in two jumps to 3-3/8 measure which would put us at the minimum size of areas that do have a larger oversize measure than we do, (if they have one). They say that this makes an “even playing field” if we all have the same minimum gauge. I would have to say, if they come down to a five inch maximum size, then we would have an even playing field.
If Maine were to do this gauge increase, it also means that we would have to go along with a vent increase. Reasoning behind this is that basically we would be handling more juvenile lobsters that are being caught in the traps. It has been proven that mishandling of lobsters only increases to higher mortality. With all of this increased volume, we would probably end up with at least a two inch vent.
The biggest controversy in science data is exactly how accurate is our v-notch policy working? It is being said that our v-notch count during sea sampling has declined. Is this true? Personally, I feel that the v-notch volume of lobsters that are seen in the traps is staggering. It is nothing to throw back at least 250 lobsters a day in total between shorts, eggers and notched. I know many fishermen have been saying the same thing. Is it possible that some guys don’t notch, maybe so. I will admit myself, sometimes when you are picking a trap, it’s hard to keep up with what is what.
Well, with what we just covered, it just shows, that there are many variables to why our catch could be declining. One thing could be that the ground fish are coming back, This puts another predatory pressure on the lobsters. Another stressor on the lobsters is the striped bass which is a recreational prize fish. Probably one of the biggest issues that could be affecting lobsters is the fact that their habitat is being overrun by sea-squirts. These little @*****’s are just consuming every nook, cranny or hole that a lobster could go into. They blanket the bottom like a rug, so there’s no place for the lobsters to shed. As you can see, there are many variables to this situation. If we do increase our gauge and vents, how long will it take for the catch to re-coupe? There will a downturn in our catch for a few years anyway. Will our price increase? What about the ground fish as the stocks rebuild? What about other states matching Maine’s conservation standards? These are all questions that need to be addressed and answered. Let’s get this figured out before we go too far and make sure there is a fishery for our next generation.
*These opinions are from actual fishermen, themselves, respectfully.
