Dear New Jersey American Lobster Permit Holder; New Jersey Lobster, Conch, Fish Pot License Holder; New Jersey Black Sea Bass Dealer; New Jersey Summer Flounder Dealer; New Jersey Scup Dealer:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has adopted Addendum XVII to the American Lobster Fisheries Management Plan requiring the Southern New England Lobster Management Stock Area to implement a 10% reduction in landings for fishing year 2013. To this end, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has adopted regulations to comply with the ASMFC Plan.
Effective July 1, 2012, ALL commercial and recreational lobster permit holders authorized to fish in LCMA 4 and/or 5 must, prior to discarding, apply a v-shaped notch in the base of all egg-bearing female lobsters tail flipper. The v-shaped notch must be at least a ¼ inch deep and placed in the base of the pelvic flipper immediately to the right of the center flipper as viewed from the back of the lobster.
Effective January 1, 2013, A person fishing with any gear type in ASMFC Lobster Conservation Management Area (LCMA) 4 and/or 5 or that has designated LCMA 4 and/or 5 for fishing on their Federal Fisheries or State Lobster Pot Permit shall not take or attempt to take, land, have in his or her possession, sell or offer to sell any American lobster during the closed season of February 1 through March 31.
During the closed season, all lobster traps in LCMA 4 and/or 5 must be removed from the water. However, a licensee shall have a two week period to remove all lobster traps from when the season closes. In addition, lobster traps may be set one week prior to the season reopening. If the license holder is harvesting other species with lobster trap gear, the lobster trap gear does not need to be removed; however it shall be tended at least every 30 days.
Also Effective January 1, 2013, A person fishing in ASMFC Lobster Conservation Management Area (LCMA) 3 will not harvest American lobsters less than 3 17/32 inches carapace length or greater than 6 ¾ inches carapace length.
If you have any questions, please contact the Bureau of Marine Fisheries at 609-748-2020.
Not that it's going to affect my lobstering, but it's interesting that you will be able to keep lobsters up to 6-3/4" instead of the current 5-1/4", or am I reading something wrong?
"Also Effective January 1, 2013, A person fishing in ASMFC Lobster Conservation Management Area (LCMA) 3 will not harvest American lobsters less than 3 17/32 inches carapace length or greater than 6 ¾ inches carapace length."
"There is, however, no way to enforce this law. One can only monitor whether a person is V-notching the gravid female lobsters by placing an enforcement officer on every boat. V-notching is still de facto voluntary."
The Evolution of the Maine Lobster V-Notch Practice: Cooperation in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game
Understanding the genesis of the V-notch is particularly difficult because it can best be considered a prisoner’s dilemma game, a type of non-zero-sum game with a payoff structure that makes cooperation difficult. In a prisoner’s dilemma, all players have a dominant strategy to defect, even though the equilibrium outcome is worse than if they had played their dominated strategy. That is, if both players cooperate in V-notching, both get good rewards. If both defect, the result is low payoffs for both. Unfortunately, if one defects and the other does not, the defector gets a large reward and the other gets a low payoff. The high reward for defection motivates both players to defect, with the result that they get the worst of all possible payoffs. Defection dominates cooperation even though cooperation by both would bring higher payoffs, and a more efficient Nash equilibrium (Gardner 2003). This is the problem inherent in all collective action dilemmas (Elster 1989, Taylor 1990).
In the case of the V-notch, individuals incur a cost in terms of the time it takes to cut the notch and put the lobster back in the water. However, they can be certain of no personal payoff. Under these circumstances, it is only rational to refuse to V-notch. Fortunately, however, many fishermen V-notch lobsters despite the logic of the prisoner’s dilemma. Why they engage in this cooperative behavior can only be understood by considering the costs and benefits involved.
Yes, taking "fish" by hand is considered a "gear type". This is not a "new law", it is a new regulation under Addendum XII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster:
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on 7/2/2012, 7:59 pm
