Congressman Jared Golden is calling on fishery regulators to delay upcoming rules that will change the minimum catch sizes for lobster in certain parts of Maine.
Officials have said the changes are necessary after they observed a troubling decline in the juvenile lobster population over a three-year period. The new management measures are intended to allow smaller lobsters to reproduce before being harvested.
But some Maine fishermen are questioning that data, and on Tuesday, many turned out at a meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to express their concerns.
Cutler lobsterman Kristan Porter said at the very least, the gauge changes will create an unfair advantage for Canadian fishermen.
Porter fishes an area near the international border known as the "gray zone," where American and Canadian lobstermen are each subject to different regulations.
"With the gauge increase, I will be throwing lobsters overboard, not to say I'll catch you next year when you're bigger," said Porter, who is also the president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association. "It will be going directly to another boat, and probably be shipped down, shipped in a lobster truck right in front of my house. So that's a pretty tough pill to swallow, when you're on an unclear playing field with your neighbor."
The minimum catch sizes for lobster in certain parts of the Gulf of Maine will change gradually by fractions of an inch starting in January 2025. Additional changes will be implemented in 2027 and 2028.
In a letter to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Rep. Golden echoed fishermen's concerns.
"Based on conversations with fishermen and dealers, I am concerned that the data used to arrive at the trigger index was overly precautionary and that the data used to arrive at the index has limitations, raising concern that it does not entirely reflect the current status of the stock," he said. "I’m further concerned that the ASMFC and the Maine Department of Marine Resources have not relied more on the observations and experience of Maine lobstermen, who possess invaluable local knowledge and expertise."
Pat Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources and chairman of the commission's lobster board, said the upcoming changes are an attempt to proactively protect the health of the fishery, though he acknowledged that fishermen have raised "very serious concerns."
"I stand behind the approach, but I question now if we missed something," Keliher said Tuesday morning during the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting. "Our focus to work only with the data around sustainability seems to have missed the mark."
"I think there's a lesson to be learned here. When we are being proactive, we must take the time to not only understand the science but also explore and understand the unintended consequences," he added.
Fisheries commission officials agreed Tuesday to ask Canada to adopt similar regulations and to consider the additional feedback from lobstermen.
