To the editor:
I’d like to get my two cents in on this lobster debate. How pitiful you pick on the recreational lobster fisherman, with his five-trap limit fishing out of a 14-15 foot boat… They pay an awful high price for those five traps, equaled out you couldn’t afford to fish the amount of traps that you do if you had to pay their fee!!!
Why don’t you take a good look at yourselves? A lot of so-called quality fishermen have been known to tear off V-notched fins and scrub the egg-bearers… Another blame is electronics — you can close your eyes and find your traps in the deepest fog. What impact does that have on lobsters?
My second point, how about all [those] who have primary jobs making $50,000-$60,000 a year and then during vacation conveniently go lobstering during the height of the run? …Please show me last year’s 1099s…
Another issue is bait — you use pig skins, beef skins, your ole lady’s draws regardless of the pollution impact. Red tides are increasing, demolishing the scallop spawn…
I wonder how many of you have taken your hard-earned cash and donated it towards some kind of lobster rehabilitation fund. I can guarantee no one.
Let’s get rid of the pity party, gentlemen, and get down to business. Anyone fishing over 500 traps should pay an additional $5 a trap fished, which monies would go towards lobster rehabilitation, whether it be a hatchery, or egg-bearers, and absolutely not to any lobster promotion program… There is no shortage of markets, and there’s not enough lobsters to meet the demand at present time, so what do we need them for? And it should absolutely not go into a general fund, if the true hard working lobsterman is to survive, you’ll have to work for it and honestly, gentlemen, I don’t see it happening.
Gerard Poole (retired seafood dealer)
Brooklin