A Maine lobsterman sets lobster traps in Casco Bay. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/Maine Morning Star)
Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Tuesday the state would not comply with new guidelines that increase the minimum catchable lobster length, calling them “unnecessary and disruptive.”
Maine has also said it would not follow the regulations set out by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which aim to address declines in smaller, young lobster populations. Massachusetts is also affected by the guidelines.
New Hampshire will continue to follow the existing regulations, Ayotte said, which require a lobster to be at least 3¼ inches in length from its eye socket to the end of its body shell to keep. The new guidelines would have increased that length by a sixteenth of an inch starting July 1, and by another sixteenth of an inch starting in July 2027.
In a letter to the commission, Ayotte said the guidelines could result in a loss of a third of the year’s lobster catch. She said it also gave an advantage to Canadian lobstermen who aren’t bound by the same guidelines. The commission moved in October to delay implementation of the new minimum length by six months to give Canada time to consider “complementary conservation measures.”
“New Hampshire’s commercial fishing industry is a proud part of our heritage,” Ayotte said in the letter, “and I have heard loud and clear from our lobstermen, commercial fishermen, and concerned legislators and citizens from our Seacoast that this minimum size increase will have a negative impact on an industry already strained by existing regulations.”
Ayotte put her point simply on social media, with a black illustration of a lobster bearing the caption: “Come and take it.”