Compared to an abundance of lobsters along the Connecticut shoreline in the late 1990's, no one is disputing there are fewer lobsters now.
But at a public hearing Monday night at the Department of Environmental Protection Marine Headquarters Education Center in Old Lyme, there was dispute over what should be done about it.
"We can't win," said Bart Mansi, owner of Guilford Lobster Pound. "We're either catching too many or we're not catching enough."
Connecticut lobstermen are now facing a recommended five-year moratorium on lobster harvesting. The recommendation comes from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that has authority over lobster catching in all 15 states along the Atlantic coast. The commission says the lobster stock in Southern New England is "critically depleted" and a moratorium would allow time to replenish it.
"They want to save me in the long run? Do they want to buy me out? Do they want to buy my boat and equipment? I mean what am I supposed to do for 5 years?" said commercial lobsterman Ken Tober.
"I've worked very hard to build up this business for 35 years and now they want to tell me I can't fish anymore. It's ridiculous," Mansi said.
Mansi said lobstermen have gone along with a gauge change and a V-notch program, designed to bring the lobster numbers back up, and Mansi said the programs are starting to work.
"When do you expect to see these results? Tomorrow? You got to give us a little bit of time," Mansi asked Department of Environmental Protection Marine Fisheries Director Dave Simpson, who led the public hearing.
Simpson is also one of Connecticut's three delegates on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, so he will have a say when the proposed moratorium comes up for a vote, possibly as early as November.
"We are looking at a range of alternatives that would include, probably in the reasonable range, a 50 percent reduction or greater," Simpson said.
But lobstermen say a 50 percent cut in what they're allowed to harvest would be just as devastating as a ban.
Monday night's hearing was the first of two where lobstermen are invited to offer alternative ideas to the moratorium.
The second hearing will be held Thursday, July 14 at The Sound School in New Haven at 7 p.m.
