Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

DEP And Local Groups Announce Connecticut’s New Lobster Stock Restoration Program

V-notch program is designed to mark one of the tail flippers of mature female lobsters with a "v" shaped notch and then release the lobsters back to the Long Island Sound (LIS) to help monitor the health of the LIS lobster population.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), three high schools with marine vocational or aquaculture programs, the University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and several lobstermen’s groups today announced the initiation of the long-awaited "Lobster Stock Restoration Program" also known as the "V-Notch Program." The program involves commercial lobstermen’s associations and schools working to develop a legislatively funded program aimed at restoring the state’s lobster population.

In 2006, the v-notch program, sponsored by the Speaker of the House James Amann was funded by the Connecticut General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor M. Jodi Rell as a cooperative venture among several parties including the DEP, Connecticut’s commercial lobstermen, the Bridgeport Regional Vocational Aquaculture School, The Sound School Regional Vocational Aquaculture Center in New Haven, and the Ella T. Grasso Technical High School. All three schools have established marine science and technology programs. The schools’ students and the lobstermen are the key factors in the program. The Bridgeport Board of Education through a grant will administer the program from the DEP approved in September.

"The lobster industry is an integral part of Connecticut’s history and deserves all the protection the state can muster. From 1998 to 2002, the lobster resource in Long Island Sound suffered a ‘die-off,’ a mortality event of enormous magnitude," said Eric Smith, Director of the DEP’s Marine Fisheries Division. "In some areas, lobster abundance declined by 75-90%. In the years since, the resource has not recovered. DEP survey indices remain below the long-term averages. Commercial lobster landings in 2006 were about 80% below the maximum observed in 1998 and about 60% below the long-term average. A new evaluation of the condition of the lobster resource scheduled for completion in late 2008 will become the basis for any new or revised requirements to conserve the southern New England lobster stock," Smith added.

"Lobstermen and others interested in rebuilding the lobster stock in Long Island Sound have been working to establish a program that would also be an effective, science-based alternative to an increase in the minimum length," according to Dr. Lance Stewart, Chairman of the legislatively-established Lobster Restoration Advisory Committee and Associate Professor in the CANR Extension Program. "In August, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Connecticut’s plan as having conservation value equivalent to the required increase in minimum length. As long as the target number of lobsters is notched over a two year period, the minimum length will not be increased during that period" Stewart added.

The v-notch program is designed to place student teams (two students per team) from the three schools aboard the vessels of cooperating lobstermen to mark one of the tail flippers of mature female lobsters with a "v" shaped notch and then release the lobsters back to the Sound. Under current state and federal law, possession of v-notched lobsters is prohibited.

"One of the key elements of this program will be to employ students of the three marine vocational schools in a work-study arrangement to be the onboard ‘notchers’ and data collectors" said John Curtis, Director of the Bridgeport Aquaculture School. Faculty advisors John Roy of The Sound School and Alex Pesarik of the Ella Grasso school concurred, noting that "the educational and experiential learning aspect of the v-notch program was a perfect fit with the reason that the schools’ marine programs were originally established."

Participating lobstermen will carry the student notching teams and will be compensated at the market rate for lobsters released on the day that they are notched. "In this way, lobstermen who are fully invested in seeing the lobster resource make a comeback are full partners in a venture that protects lobsters and also provides economic assistance to lobstermen," said Roger Frate, Sr., President of the Long Island Sound West End Lobstermen’s Association. "Recovering the lobstermen as well as the lobster stock is extremely important," added Frate "since many lobstermen suffered huge losses and some had to seek work in other fields."

Based on the 2006 legislation, the lobster restoration program was developed by the Lobster Restoration Advisory Committee with $1.0 million appropriated by the Connecticut General Assembly. "This program is exactly the kind of program that is of interest to legislators," according to former state Senator George L. Gunther, a member of the committee and long-time dean of Connecticut’s delegation to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. "It fits the purpose of the three schools, the interests of an important commercial lobster fishery and the need to rebuild a depressed natural resource," said Gunther. Barbara Gordon, Executive Director of the Connecticut Seafood Council agreed, noting how "a bipartisan legislature came together to support a worthwhile program even though there is always considerable competition for scarce dollars for new programs. In this case, added Gordon, "the conservation, educational and industry support elements all added up to a program that everyone could support."