Connecticut DEP Says Success of Lobster “V-notch” Program Postpones Increase in Minimum Size
July 21, 2008
Effort involved lobstermen and students at three high schools
![Connecticut DEP Says Success of Lobster "V-notch" Program Postpones Increase in Minimum Size](http://www.outdoorcentral.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/20080721009.jpg "Connecticut DEP Says Success of Lobster \\"V-notch\\" Program Postpones Increase in Minimum Size")
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said today that the lobster “V-notch” program has achieved the level of success needed to delay – for at least one year – an increase in the current minimum legal size for lobsters that are taken from the waters of Long Island Sound.
Under the “V-notch” program – which was designed to monitor and improve the Long Island Sound lobster population – fishermen from Connecticut and New York returned the equivalent of more than 58,000 mature female lobsters to the Sound between December 2007 and July 2008. This represents more than 100% of the goal established for the first year of the program.
As a result of an agreement with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the “V-notch” program was approved as a viable alternative to an increase in the minimum size for purposes of attempting to restore the Sound’s lobster population. The Commission had agreed to certain milestones – and delaying an increase in minimum size for a year was the recognition agreed to once at least 90% of the goal of the initial phase of the “V-notch” program was achieved.
DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said, “We are working to show that the ‘V-Notch’ program can serve as a viable alternative to increases in the minimum legal size and a valuable educational opportunity for the students involved. Completing the first year’s v-notch goal means Connecticut and New York lobstermen fishing in the Sound will not have to endure a gauge increase for at least another year.”
“This is something people in this industry felt was critical for their businesses, given the high costs of fuel and bait and low catches in recent years,” Commissioner McCarthy said. “The achievements of the “V-notch” program were possible only as a result of the support of Governor Rell and the state legislature and the hard work of the Lobster Restoration Advisory Committee (LRAC), the city of Bridgeport, local lobstermen and the state’s three marine-themed technical high schools.”
Having fulfilled the first year goal, the “V-notch” program has delayed – by at least one year – action by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that would have increased the current minimum legal size by 1/16″ from 3 5/16″ to 3 3/8″ on August 1, 2008. This fall, students are expected to begin v-notching for “year two,” and this work will continue until the funding is exhausted. Under the current management plan the next scheduled increase in the minimum legal size would take place in 2010.
Barbara Gordon, Executive Director of the CT Seafood Council said, “I would like to congratulate the staff of the DEP, the three participating schools and the lobstermen who have spent many hours on the water working toward the success of this program. We also owe a big ‘thanks’ and huge praise to the students who made this program work. I would also like to express thanks to legislative leaders and the Governor for believing in us and for providing funding to make this program a success.”
Bart Mansi, a Guilford lobsterman who serves on the LRAC, said, “All the hard work needed to establish the “V-notch” program was well worth the effort. It is a great program and we will work to identify future funding to continue it for the benefit of both the students involved and the industry. This is the first time industry, management and education have really teamed up to work together on an issue and we want to continue this kind of cooperation into the future.”
Background on “V-notch” Program
The “V-notch” program, established by the General Assembly in 2006, is a cooperative venture of Connecticut lobstermen who participate voluntarily, three coastal Connecticut high schools with specialized programs in aquaculture or maritime sciences, and the DEP. In the program, the tails of mature female lobsters are v-notched and the animals are released back into Long Island Sound. This mark protects them from harvest for about two years, giving them time to grow and reproduce.
The program was designed by the Lobster Restoration Advisory Committee, established by the state legislature. Participants include three Connecticut lobstermen, three representatives of the schools, Connecticut’s three Commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a representative of Commissioner McCarthy and the Executive Director of the Connecticut Seafood Council.
The program is administered by the City of Bridgeport through its Board of Education and Bridgeport Regional Vocational Aquaculture School under a grant from the DEP. Bridgeport’s role as administrator was a critical component for the program, without which employing students and processing payments to vendors, students and lobstermen may not have been possible.
Other participating schools are the Ella T. Grasso Vocational Technical High School in Groton and The Sound School Vocational Aquaculture High School in New Haven. Students of the three schools are employed as “v-notch agents” deployed on the vessels of participating lobstermen. Two person teams notch the lobsters, record biological data, and verify the numbers notched for accountability.
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DNREC to Host July 7 Public Hearing on Proposed Revisions to Shad and River Herring Management Plan
June 17, 2008
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Division of Fish and Wildlife, will host a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 7 in the DNREC auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, regarding proposed revisions to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has developed a public information document (PID) as the first step to drafting an amendment in response to the findings of the 2007 benchmark stock assessment for American shad, which indicates that American shad stocks are currently at all-time lows and do not appear to be recovering.
Specific issues addressed are: (1) incorporating the biological reference points and stock restoration goals identified in the 2007 benchmark stock assessment; (2) not increasing directed fisheries for American shad; and (3) restricting fisheries operating on stocks where total mortality is increasing and relative abundance is decreasing. The PID has been developed to address these issues by seeking public comment on the restoration of American shad fisheries and American shad fisheries management.
The PID presents a broad overview of the factors affecting American shad, and provides the public with the opportunity to tell the Commission about changes observed in the fishery; things that should or should not be done in terms of management, regulation, enforcement, research, development, and enhancement; and any other concerns about the resource or the fishery. Other coastal states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia will also be holding public hearings on the proposed changes.
Following the initial phase of information-gathering and public comment, the Commission will evaluate potential management alternatives and develop a draft amendment for public review. Following that review and public comment, the Commission will specify the management measures to be included in the final amendment. A tentative schedule for the completion of the amendment is included in PID.
Copies of the PID may be obtained by contacting the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission at 202-289-6400 or by visiting its website at www.asmfc.org
under Breaking News.
Citizens may address comments in writing to Erika Robbins, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, 1444 ‘Eye’ Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, fax to 202-289-6051, or email to comments [at] asmfc [dot] org, subject line American shad. Public comment will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, July 25.
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Public Hearing June 17, 2008, on Marine Rule Changes Affecting Lobster Size Limit; Shad and River Herring Management
May 28, 2008
DURHAM, N.H. — The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department will hold public hearings on proposed marine rule changes to the maximum size limit of lobsters and on Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Public Information Document (PID) for Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring. Both hearings will take place on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. at the Portsmouth Public Library, 175 Parrott Avenue, Portsmouth, N.H., on the second floor in the Hilton Garden Meeting Room.
The proposed rule changes under consideration would involve modifying the maximum legal length of lobsters in Management Areas 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to bring New Hampshire into compliance with ASMFC’s Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster.
The Public Information Document and subsequent amendment to the ASMFC’s Shad and River Herring Fisheries Management Plan are being developed in response to the findings of the 2007 benchmark stock assessment for American shad, which indicates that American shad stocks are currently at all-time lows and do not appear to be recovering.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is looking for fishermen and other interested groups to provide input on the PID either through attending a public hearing or by providing written comments by 5 p.m. on July 25, 2008, to Erika Robbins, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, ASMFC, 1444 Eye St, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005. Copies of the document can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission’s web site at www.asmfc.org under “Breaking News.”
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DEM To Hold Public Meeting May 14 on Proposed Amendments To Marine Fisheries Regulations Governing Monkfish and Lobsters
May 6, 2008
PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, May 14, on proposed amendments to the Rhode Island marine fisheries regulations.
The proposed amendments set a control date for the commercial monkfish fishery and set maximum gauge sizes for the Area 3, 4, 5, and 6 lobster fisheries.
Regarding the monkfish fishery, the proposed regulations set an April 1, 2008 control date as a cut-off for establishing potential eligibility criteria for future access to a fishery in accordance with a state fisheries management plan. Management of monkfish in state waters is evolving in concert with the federal waters program of the New England Fisheries Management Council. The control data will allow for the possibility of a limited entry, history based management program for state licensed fishers, if such a program is proposed and adopted in the future.
Proposed amendments to the lobster fishery include a maximum gauge size of 5 ¼ inches for all of Area 4 (the North mid-Atlantic), Area 5 (inshore South mid-Atlantic), and Area 6 (New York and Connecticut state waters). The proposed rule is consistent with the maximum gauge size proposed at the March public hearing for Area 2, which includes Rhode Island waters. Rhode Island and other southern New England states have long maintained minimum gauge size restrictions, but the move toward a maximum gauge size, which is designed to protect the largest females which produce the most eggs, is new this spring. It is being undertaken pursuant to a requirement imposed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
With regard to Area 3 (off shore waters), where there is currently no maximum gauge, the maximum gauge size shall be no greater than the carapace length of seven inches.
The proposed amendments are available on DEM’s website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on “Fish and Wildlife” under “Offices and Divisions“, then clicking on “Marine Fisheries“. They are also available at DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife offices in Wakefield and Jamestown.
The May 14 public hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography Corless Auditorium on South Ferry Road in Narragansett. Written comments will be accepted at the hearing, or may also be submitted by noon on May 14 to the Division at its Jamestown office, 3 Fort Wetherill Road, Jamestown, RI 02835.
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Atlantic Herring Landing Restricted
April 29, 2008
DURHAM, N.H. — The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Marine Fisheries Division today announced that effective May 1, 2008, commercial fishermen will not be allowed to land Atlantic herring taken from Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Management Area 1A (located in the western half of the Gulf of Maine) from May 1-31. The May closure will be followed by a period of restricted days — beginning June 1, 2008, commercial fishermen will be prohibited from landing Atlantic herring taken from Management Area 1A on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The restriction applies from 12:01 a.m. on Thursdays to midnight on Sundays. The restriction will remain in effect until December 31, 2008, or until further amended. Similar restrictions were in effect in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
The closure is in accordance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Atlantic Herring Management Plan. One of the provisions of the plan addresses the need to control “effort” (fishing days) in the fishery to prevent commercial fishermen from exceeding the total allowable catch for each management area and to prevent management areas from having to be closed early.
“Management Area 1A is of particular concern because in recent years the total allowable catch has been harvested before peak market demands abate in the autumn,” said Doug Grout, Acting Chief of Fish and Game’s Marine Fisheries Division. “This year the total allowable catch was reduced by another 5,000 metric tons, so additional harvest restrictions were needed to prevent the quota from being harvested before the fall.”
An exception to the rule is that any vessel may land herring taken as an incidental catch in ASMFC Management Area 1A, up to a maximum of 2,000 pounds.
For more information about the closure, call N.H. Fish and Game’s Marine Fisheries Division at the Department’s Region 3 office in Durham at (603) 868-1095.
The N.H. Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state’s fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats.
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