Possible lobster ban on the horizon

The population of the crustaceans is at such low levels along the East Coast that a regulatory agency is proposing a five-year ban on harvesting them between Cape Cod and Virginia.

“Long Island Sound, in particular, has been in poor health since 1999,” said Toni Kerns, senior fishery management plan coordinator at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. “We had a die off in the fishery.”

The ban, however, would spare Maine, where lobsters are thriving. Last year, fishermen pulled in 75.6 million pounds — the largest take in years, according to state records and estimates. The harvest raked in $223.7 million — although that was about $22 million lighter than in 2008.

Nearly 90% of the nation’s lobsters come from Maine, according to George Lapointe, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. He estimates that only 4 million pounds of lobsters were produced in other states last year, so the ban won’t have a large practical impact.

He argues the ban won’t necessarily lift lobster prices — as many fear, because Maine lobstermen already have the market cornered, with or without a moratorium in other states. (Lobsters currently sell for an average of $4.50 a pound for hardshell and $3.50 for softshell, according to Kerns.)

Read the full article at CNN