Councilor King, a lobsterman from Mattituck, voiced concerns about the condition of the lobster resource and the new lobster trap tag program. He stated that the Long Island Sound lobster fishery has been declared a collapsed fishery/disaster area by the federal government because of the unexplained lobster mortalities, yet there has been no discussion of the need to reduce fishing effort in the fishery. In Mr. King’s view, the trap tag allocation scheme was flawed; it allowed some fishermen to file false information about the level of their past participation in the fishery and thus receive inflated trap tag allowances. He noted that fishing pressure had caused the average lobster size in eastern Long Island Sound to drop from 2 lb. to 1 lb. over the past twenty years. This was of enormous economic significance; the wholesale price of a small lobster is $3.00/lb., while for a large lobster it is $5-$6/lb. Mr. King suggested that the lobsters’ reproductive ability made the resource surprisingly resilient; reduction of effort might quickly return the more profitable large lobsters to the fishery.

Describing the severe lobster mortalities in the Sound, Mr. Carl LoBue of DEC noted that most of the dead lobsters were found west of Huntington, especially west of Lloyd Point. Lobster abundance indices are down but still above average. The mortalities had affected primarily adult, legal-sized animals. Councilor King pointed out that trawl surveys (source of the lobster abundance data) could not be conducted in many areas of western Long Island Sound because of obstructing lobster traps. He noted that the Bi-state Legislative Committee on Long Island Sound passed a resolution urging reducing the harvest of lobsters in the Sound in 1994, when there were approximately 250,000 traps being used. Mr. King estimated there are three times that number of traps in use now.

Gordon Colvin of DEC added that the cause(s) of the lobster mortalities in western Long Island Sound had not been identified and a substantial research effort on marine animal diseases was underway. All dead lobsters examined to date have had a parasitic protozoan damaging the brain and central nervous system, but this might be only part of the story. The research program would also look at the contribution of toxic materials and other environmental factors. Chairman Wise pointed out that widespread mortality events affecting wild populations of marine animals often had multiple causes. He noted, however, that the current lobster management program was precipitated by management needs which preceded the mortality event. The mortality event may argue for even more stringent management measures than are already in place and will probably make it more difficult to judge the effectiveness of the management program in conserving the abundance of lobsters in Long Island Sound. Mr. Colvin indicated that, while New York’s lobster management program had been developed based on the requirements of Lobster Fishery Management Plan promulgated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), there was nothing to prevent the New York State Legislature from expanding and strengthening this program to deal with additional problems not anticipated by that plan, such as the mortality event in western Long Island Sound. The DEC has limited regulatory authority over lobsters.

George Doll, a commercial lobsterman and New York co-chairman of the Long Island Sound-area Lobster Conservation Management Team (LCMT), detailed why the team had recommended an individual trap limit based an individual fishermen’s documented historic participation in the lobster fishery. He stated that the team had been charged to determine whether a trap cap would be necessary and, if so, what kind of cap. The team had been given the goal of achieving F 10 -- a rate of fishing mortality that produces a production of eggs per recruit equivalent to 10% of that of the stock in the absence of fishing. Mr. Doll stated that most Area 6 Team members disagreed with F 10 as a management goal, but they had to use it since ASMFC required meeting deadlines in order to stay in compliance. After lengthy deliberations, the Team voted for a cap based on the number of traps fished by an individual during a 1995-1998 baseline period. Councilor King observed that many lobstermen had wanted the baseline qualifying period to end in December 1997, because some individuals had started to greatly increase their trap use in early 1998.

Mr. Colvin asked that the Council identify what changes it thought were desirable in the state’s lobster management. Mr. Wise replied that it was important for MRAC to concern itself both with lobster management and with how the LCMT’s made decisions. There were far fewer lobsters in the LI Sound now than when the current lobster management plan was formulated; his concern was that the resource had been deteriorating before the die-off and was in worse shape now. It was discussed that, perhaps, different areas of the Sound should be under somewhat different management programs. Councilor Sullivan urged that something be done to help the lobsters and lobstermen, as those in the western Sound were in a crisis. He noted that many other lobster management areas had instituted a flat 800- trap limit for all fishermen. He suggested that this approach be used in New York waters of Long island Sound. Councilor King agreed with this idea; such a flat cap was already in place in the Connecticut waters of western Long Island Sound, while the balance of Connecticut waters was managed through individual fishermen trap tag allocations. Mr. Colvin stated that DEC authority over lobsters was restricted to implementing a trap tag program consistent with ASMFC requirements. He would get a legal opinion as to whether an additional flat trap cap on top of those restrictions would be approved by the Commission. He indicated that DEC might not have the regulatory authority to institute a flat trap cap, in which case it would have to be done by action of the New York State Legislature.

Several commercial lobstermen from the Mattituck area of Long Island Sound spoke in favor of instituting a flat cap of the number of traps allowed to each lobsterman, at least in the area of the Sound where they fished, if not Sound-wide. They saw this as a more favorable restriction on the fishery than an outright limit on catches.

Councilor Sullivan motioned that the Council recommend that a flat 800-trap limit be imposed on all lobstermen fishing the New York waters of Long Island Sound. Councilor King seconded. Mr. Wise proposed an amendment to Mr. Sullivan’s motion: to ask the DEC to determine if its current regulatory authority over lobsters would allow instituting a flat cap for either the Mattituck area or the entire state waters of Long Island Sound to a numerical limit (perhaps 800) or a level of historical participation, whichever was less. This legal opinion should be brought to the next Council meeting. Mr. Schwab seconded the revision. The Council adopted the revised motion by unanimous vote.