There might be even tighter rules in place when it comes to lobster fishing that could hurt the bottom line for the lobstermen in Connecticut.
Lobsterman Michael Grimshaw is the president of the Southern New England Fishermen’s and Lobstermen’s Association. He said he's a little crusty there might be even stricter regulations on fishing these crustaceans.
On Tuesday, the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission is considering new restrictions on lobster fishing in Southern New England. These restrictions could include changes to the legal harvesting size, even longer seasonal closures to the fishing areas and reductions to the number of traps.
Grimshaw said he’s already been asked to reduce his traps from 800 to 400 over five years.
"Realistically, I’ll probably have to consider some other employment to get through this," Grimshaw said.
The focus is to help rebuild the lobster population in southern New England and boost egg production. Experts said the population has declined off Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts as the water warmed in those areas.
As an alternative solution, Grimshaw and other lobstermen came to the table offering to not fish on Sundays in July and August to let the lobsters breed.
Local
Grimshaw said the real issue is predators because he and other lobstermen don’t fish to capacity.
“The seas bass, the black fish are like piranhas, if you will. They eat the legs off the lobster,” Grimshaw said.
