January 31, 2017 — PORTLAND, MAINE — Interstate fishing regulators could select new restrictions for the declining southern New England lobster fishery by May.
Lobster fishing is experiencing a boom, and prices have also been high. But the species has dwindled in the waters off southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, where it was once plentiful.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering a host of options to try to rejuvenate the lobster stock. An arm of the commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to send the options out for public comment.