Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved the implementation of a conservation-equivalent plan for Long Island Sound in Connecticut and New York (lobster conservation management area 6), instituting a v-notch-based lobster stock restoration program in place of the 1/16” minimum length increase approved in May 2007 through Addendum XI. Under the Commission’s fishery management planning process, alternative measures can be adopted if they can be shown through technical review to be “conservation-equivalent” (having equivalent conservation value) to the initial plan.
“I appreciate the Board’s support for this important plan. It provides a win-win scenario for both the Long Island Sound lobster industry and lobster resource,” states Eric Smith of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. “The state-funded plan involves a unique collaborative venture of the state’s maritime high schools and lobstermen that will conserve and rebuild a depressed natural resource, aid a beleaguered maritime industry, and provide hands-on, on-the-water experiential learning for high school students.”
The plan provides for the v-notching of approximately 60,000 legal-sized female lobsters (3-5/16”) in each of the two years (July 1, 2007/June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008/June 30, 2009) and establishes strategies to meet the plan’s conservation goals in the event that the v-notch targets are not met.
For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator for Management, at (202) 289-6400 or tkerns@asmfc.org.