N.H. lobster industry backs new limits on pots

In an effort to save local lobsters for local fishermen, New Hampshire lobstermen are rallying around a proposal to reduce the number of pots that newcomers can set under the state's most sought-after license from 600 to 100.

Those already holding these so-called limited commercial licenses would be allowed to continue using 600 pots, if they have caught at least 1,000 pounds of lobster at least once in the past five years. Based on the results of a Dec. 5 public hearing, the restrictions appear likely to become law on Jan. 1.

''There was no opposition and we had about 70 or 80 folks in the industry" at the hearing, said John Nelson, chief of the Marine Fisheries Division for New Hampshire Fish and Game. ''Usually, I expect to have a bunch of folks not happy with what we do. But, in this case they all recognized the need for these efforts of control being put into place to protect the lobsters."

New Hampshire has three types of lobster licenses: recreational, limited commercial, and commercial. The changes will affect only the limited commercial license, which is the most popular with 329 issued this year. Fish and Game issued 103 commercial and 175 recreational licenses.

The state was forced in the past year to abandon its five-year residency requirement to obtain a lobster license, after a federal court in New York ruled that such restrictions were unconstitutional.

That decision left New Hampshire's waters wide open to aspiring lobstermen, especially compared with Maine and Massachusetts, where commercial licenses are all but impossible to obtain, regardless of resident status.

''We've seen a little bit of an influx of people entering New Hampshire to take advantage of the fishery," said Erik Anderson, president of the New Hampshire Commercial Fishermen's Association and holder of a limited commercial license. ''I don't know exactly how many have come in. But there's been enough to see it's necessary to take action."

Nelson said this action is not just an effort to protect local lobstermen, but to protect the lobsters, whose numbers are dropping in the southern Gulf of Maine. ''We've seen a substantial drop-off of the catch," he said. ''The most recent numbers may be stable . . . but they are much lower than they were five or six years ago. There's a problem out there because there is an awful lot of competition for the lobster."

That competition, combined with the federal court ruling, made the state a magnet, said Robert Nudd, a Rye lobsterman and member of the Lobster Advisory Board for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. With just 11 miles of coastline, New Hampshire doesn't have the room for many newcomers, he said.

''It's so difficult to get into the business in Massachusetts and Maine that it makes New Hampshire very attractive," Nudd said. ''But there are only so many lobsters available to be caught every year and when they are gone, they are gone."

Massachusetts lobstermen had a different view of things. While not familiar with the new law, they did say there are plenty Gulf of Maine lobsters to go around.

''I don't know what they are doing in New Hampshire or why," said Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. ''But the stock assessment that just came out said the Gulf of Maine stock is stable, so it's not like things are falling fast at all. It's actually like one of the best stock assessments that has come out in the last decade."

After the show of support at the public hearing, the proposed rule change will be presented for approval at the Dec. 21 meeting of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission. If the change is approved, Nelson's office will have the license regulations redrawn.

That won't be the end of the issue, however. Later this winter, the state is likely to address concerns over how existing licenses can be transferred through retirement or other means without losing the right to set 600 pots, Nelson said.

It's clear local fishermen don't want to invite competition from out of state, Nelson said. But, it's they do want a way for their children to follow in their footsteps.

''The intent is to allow people to retire out of industry without losing their business," Nelson said. ''It's like selling any business. And we want to have a mechanism for selling these licenses that's simplified."