NEW YORK – July 20, 2010 – Consider the lobster: 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."
On Thursday, the technical committee of biologists for the Atlantic commission is meeting in Warwick, R.I., to discuss the proposal. They have the final authority to shut down lobstering in these coastal waters.
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.
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