September 4, 2013 — NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut’s lobstermen are bracing for the start of the Long Island Sound fishery’s first-ever seasonal shutdown.
The closure is set to begin Sunday and extend to Nov. 28 in an attempt to give the Sound’s depleted lobster population a chance to rebuild, The Day of New London reports.
“None of us are sure what we’re going to do for three months without working,” said Michael Theiller, who keeps his lobster boat in New London. “It’s going to be a bit difficult.”
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission required the state to take steps to reduce the total lobster harvest by 10 percent in 2013. The timing was requested by lobstermen to coincide with the drop in wholesale prices.
The fishery has been in decline for the last 15 years because of pesticide residue, diseases and warming waters from climate change that stresses lobsters. Overabundant predators such as striped bass, scup and other species also are seen as preventing the lobsters from rebuilding.
Read the full story at the New Haven Register