The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted on Monday to delay until July of 2012 regulations that threatened an end to the Long Island and southern New England lobster fishery. Local squid fishermen have also gotten a reprieve from rules that would have greatly curtailed their catch if implemented.
A year ago, fishery managers said that a dramatic drop-off in the lobster population from southern New England to the Carolinas called for either an outright moratorium on lobster fishing or a catch reduction of up to 75 percent.
Montauk lobstermen said at the time that either scenario would spell the death of their industry. And, they strongly disagreed with stock assessments that seemed blind to what was going on offshore, especially in regard to the relatively robust lobster population in the eastern part of Long Island Sound and beyond.
Read the complete story from The East Hampton Star.