Lobster populations in a large area of the Atlantic Ocean have shrunk so much that biologists have recommended a five-year ban on catching to allow stocks to bounce back.
The proposal for a closure from south of Cape Cod down to Virginia is the most drastic of a number of options that will be considered in July by a multistate commission that regulates fishing of coastal species in the Atlantic.
Waters farther north, where most of New England’s lobsters are caught, are unaffected, because those populations remain healthy.
Lobstermen and some scientists assert that warming waters, possibly due to climate change, have allowed disease and infections to overtake lobster populations off southern New England, killing many and pushing others further offshore into deeper, cooler waters.
The number of lobsters in southern New England now stands at about 15 million, down from a peak of about 35 million over a decade ago, according to the report produced by a committee of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
It stated that a moratorium on lobster fishing poses the maximum likelihood for the stock to recover and support the industry in the future.
There are three populations of lobster in New England. The biggest is in the Gulf of Maine and the second largest is on Georges Bank. Both these populations are healthy.
But since 2002, commercial landings in parts of southern New England have fallen by 40%.
On 22 July, members of the fisheries commission’s American Lobster Management Board will vote on a range of options, from taking no action to imposing the five-year ban, before opening up the debate to public comment.
