MAINE PUBLIC • March 8, 2023
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering tighter rules on the minimum and maximum sizes of lobster that fishermen in Maine are allowed to catch. Recent assessments show a troubling decline in young lobsters and because the state's lobster catch is by far the largest and most valuable of any New England fishery, proactive measures might be necessary to protect the spawning stock. But fishemen are suspicious because Maine's landings — with last year a notable exception — have generally trended upward for more than a decade. And some said Canadian lobstermen come in to the Gulf of Maine but wouldn't be subject to the same restrictions.