AP News, December 26th, 2006
Lobstermen in Rhode Island are debating the practice of clipping the tails of female lobsters, with some saying stricter regulations are needed to protect a declining population.
The conflict centers on "v-notching," a conservation method in which a quarter-inch to half-inch notch is clipped in the tail of a female lobster. The notch means the lobster must be thrown back into the water so it can reproduce. The notch becomes smaller as the lobster grows, giving it time to produce more eggs.
Jody King, a quahogger who sits on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council, said he supports a "zero-tolerance" policy that would prevent the harvest of lobsters with notched tails. He said he'd like to "bring back lobstering to what it was."
"The Southern New England stock is in poor condition," King said. "It is depleted and at the overfishing threshold. All sources of mortality must be reduced."
But there's debate about whether the differing notch sizes would actually lead to a big difference in the number of lobsters potentially protected.
A survey presented by biologists from the state Department of Environmental Management showed that of 1,334 lobsters taken from local traps, 100 percent of legal-sized females would be protected by a zero-tolerance policy. But a quarter-inch notch would still protect nearly 96 percent and a slightly bigger notch would protect 98 percent.
Mark Gibson, a DEM biologist who chairs the fisheries council, said he would recommend a three-eighths notch to department director W. Michael Sullivan. He said the fishermen want a notch they can measure.
Sullivan was to have decided on a permanent notch size last Friday, but pushed back the decision for another 90 days.
Rhode Island developed its v-notching program after the 1996 North Cape oil spill.
___
Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/
