PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 9, 2024
Federal regulators hope to give lobstermen an additional six months to prepare for a new rule that would slightly increase the minimum size of lobsters they are legally allowed to harvest. The one-sixteenth of an inch increase, which is designed to help boost a dwindling stock of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine, might seem minor but it could have big consequences. Lobster harvesters and dealers say that the fraction-of-an-inch change could eliminate the most lucrative segment of their catch and give Canadian competitors an unfair advantage. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said on Wednesday that it intends to delay a planned gauge increase until July 1, 2025. The rules were previously set to go into effect Jan. 1.