Hearings on Plan to Save Southern New England Lobsters

BUZZARDS BAY (AP) — Interstate fishing managers have scheduled hearings on a plan to try to save southern New England lobsters.

Lobster fishing in places like Rhode Island and Connecticut dates back centuries, but the stock has dwindled as water temperature has warmed. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on a plan to slow decline.

The commission’s plan includes strategies such as changing the legal harvesting size limit for lobsters, reducing the number of traps allowed in the water and enforcing new seasonal closures.

Hearings are scheduled for March 15 in Belmar, New Jersey; March 16 in Ocean Pines, Maryland; March 20 in East Setauket, New York; March 21 in Old Lyme, Connecticut; March 27 in Derby, Connecticut; March 22 in Narragansett, Rhode Island; and March 23 in Buzzards Bay.