A letter was sent in the mail from the Department of Marine Fisheries to all lobster license holders regarding trap reductions. Currently, license holders can have up to 800 traps in the water. The letter discusses limiting traps to fishermen in a tiered system that would be based on: landings, tax records, tags purchased, affidavits. All four proposals discussed include reducing a fisherman's traps by about 25%; 800 down to 600 and so on. Zone Council Meetings to discuss the proposals start tonight. The dates and times of these meeting can be found on the MLA website.
The discussion of trap reduction could not come at a worse time for lobstermen. Boat prices for lobsters has dropped to under three dollars a pound in some areas. More discouraging to the lobstermen is the fact that restauraunts right next door to where they are selling their catch are still asking for more than double that amount.
A recent article in the Press Herald, courtesy of Krisin Bailey from the Moseley Group, suggests that fishermen selling their catch from the back of their trucks may be driving the boat prices down, but what's a fisherman to do?
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