Lobster populations off the southern New England coast have plummeted to record lows, leading fisheries managers to consider new regulations, including a longer, closed season.
A draft report put out by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) found that American lobster stocks in the Southern New England (SNE) region that include Connecticut, Rhode Island, and southern Massachusetts, is at a "record low abundance" and is failing to reproduce at former levels.
The new proposal for the management of lobster stocks will be voted on by the commission on Monday and Tuesday next week. The report blames "changing environmental conditions," as well as “continued fishing mortality” for the drastic decline, and proposes measures that directly focus on increasing egg production.
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