NJ Scuba Divers Message Board
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    Maximum Size on Female Lobsters Archived Message

    Posted by Dave S on 10/11/2005, 9:15 pm

    I want to refer back to the alerts sent out last week by Peggy Bowen and Jack Fullmer regarding the NMFS proposal to impose a maximum size on female lobsters of 5 1/4” carapace length (zone 4) and 5 1/2 “ (zone 5). My personal problem is that I didn’t know how big a 5 ˝ “female is. I only measure a bug’s length to be assured that it is over the 3 3/8” needed to be legal. Once legal, I think in terms of weight. To get a conversion of carapace length to weight, I wrote to the NJ Fish & Game expert on lobsters. I got back an excel spreadsheet that equates the carapace length to weight for males and females starting at 3 3/8” up to 5 1/2” in increments of 1/16” Using this NJ Fish & Game table, a 5 1/4” female will weigh 4.77 pounds; a 5 1/2” female will weigh 5.47 pounds. A 5 lb bug is a nice bug but not a trophy catch. Restricting our catching any female over 5 lbs is taking more lobsters out of our bags than I had originally thought.

    I am composing my letter to NMFS right now. I plan to oppose their proposal mainly on the grounds that it is targeting divers. Commercial lobstermen have had the 5 1/2” restriction for several years. Divers have been exempt. This proposal removes our exemption. My second concern for this proposal is that divers account for a very very small portion of the lobster fishery, especially for big bugs. Most of us are day divers. Lobsters are nocturnal and only make themselves easily catchable when we aren’t there (but the traps are). Restricting divers from taking big females will have no measurable impact on the fishery making this proposal pointless.

    I saw some very thoughtful comments made last week – both for and against - when this proposal first came to light. I hope you will take the time to write your comments down and send them to the NMFS. The comment period ends in one week – Oct 18. If you do, please use the term “taken by hand” when referring to lobsters harvested by divers. Oh, and you might also tell them that their process for communicating this proposal and seeking comment sucks.

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