More Bait Fish Expected To Help Maine Lobstermen With Crunch

PORTLAND, Maine - The reopening of the fishery for a species of schooling fish could boost Maine's lobster industry during a season in which its favored bait might be hard to come by.The Portland Press Herald reports regional fishing managers have approved Maine's request to reopen the fishery for menhaden. That could make available a few million pounds of the bait fish, which are also called pogies.
 
The most popular lobster bait in Maine is Atlantic herring, but that fishery has been subject to deep quota cuts in recent years because of concerns about the stability of its population.
 
Other new bait sources are also on the way. State regulators have given the green light to the use of blackbelly rosefish. The new baits are arriving just before lobstering's busy season.