A lobster landing refers to the pounds of lobster caught by commercial lobstermen harvested in their traps. Only lobster above the legal minimum size and those not carrying eggs can be caught.
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This indicator is “reflective of fishery management practices, socioeconomic conditions, and species population abundance.
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In the 1980s American lobster harvested in the Sound increased, with the peak average lobster landing in 1997.
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Lobster die-offs were most severe during the years of 1999 to 2002.
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Scientists have attributed a combination of warmer temperatures and poor water quality to lobster stress, making them more susceptible to disease and limiting their ability of reproduce.
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Ultimately a variety of factors are believed to have caused a rapid drop in American lobster population.
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Two of the management control systems that were put in place to help restore the lobster populations in the Sound were increasing the size restrictions of lobster that can be caught and limiting the number of adult female lobster that can be caught.
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And when these efforts did not have an impact the states of New York and Connecticut worked with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to put in place a fall lobster harvest closure beginning in 2013.
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The idea behind this closure was to “reduce fishing exploitation by 10% in order to help restore the [American lobster] population.”
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Connecticut and New York have also created effort reduction programs to buy-back lobster traps thus allowing compensation for lobsterman impacted by the lobster-die off and reducing the number of lobster that can be caught be decreasing the number of traps that can be harvested.
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Connecticut has seen relatively stable landings since 2011, but New York has continued to see a decline in landings and in 2014 it saw its worst year in history.
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In addition to lobster, researcher have also noted recent decreases in the number of blue crabs and sea urchin in regions of the Northeastern United States, including the Sound. It is unclear whether the cause of their decline is related to the lobster die-off.