Councilor Davi brought to the attention of DEC's Division of Law Enforcement that many commercial lobster license holders are having difficulty receiving their lobster trap tags.  This should be kept in mind on enforcement patrols if ECO's come upon a lobsterman without his/her tags.  He asked law enforcement officials to do what they could to help speed the distribution of tags from the tag manufacturer.

Councilor Davi asked that an increase in the number of blackfish (tautog) allowed to lobstermen as bycatch in their traps be put on the agenda for the September 2006 Council meeting.  Such an increase would help lobstermen offset the impact of recent increases in the cost of fuel oil on their bottom line.  Mr. Colvin suggested that Mr. Davi's request be expanded to include a more thorough and wide-ranging discussion of issues pertaining to the blackfish fishery at the next meeting.  He noted that ASMFC's Tautog Technical Committee will soon advise the Commission's Tautog Management Board that the management measures which have been in place for years now are not rebuilding the stock of this species.  Councilor Davi observed that a decline in commercial tautog landings might not be very reflective of the condition of the stock, as there are a lot of lobstermen who are no longer fishing because of the drop in the lobster population in Long Island Sound and these men used to harvest a lot of blackfish as by-catch.  Chairman Wise will add tautog to the September 2006 Council meeting agenda.

 

Page last modified Sunday, September 24, 2006 by George E. Carroll