Lobster moratorium would put our way of life in jeopardy

Anyone who has taken a stroll through Stonington Borough can surely attest to the familiar smell of lobster and fish, and the sound of seagulls swarming overhead. These are the smells and sounds of the livelihood of many citizens in southeastern Connecticut. Not only is it a livelihood and career, but for many this is a passed down legacy of generations in the borough.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently proposed a five-year ban on commercial and recreational lobstering from Cape Cod south to North Carolina. Although the commissions' Lobster Management Board decided on Thursday to hold off on a moratorium, pending further study, the board could recommend that a moratorium be implemented in the future. The moratorium was proposed because of the decreasing numbers of lobsters over the years in not only Long Island Sound, but most of the Eastern Seaboard.

Granted, you can't have a lobster fleet without lobsters, and one should be aware of preserving our fragile ecosystem; however, a five-year ban would make lobstering as we know it extinct, and take away a profession and heritage that is the sole income and provider for many families. As it is, citizens have a hard enough time finding work and jobs to put dinner on the table. It seems the pickings are getting smaller by the minute.

Let's think about a quota system

Perhaps someone should propose a different form of approach to this situation, such as a quota system per season as they did for the scallop fishing. A local scallop fisherman at the Stonington docks admitted to being against the quota in the beginning, frightened that he would lose his business, but in actuality the system allowed the scallops to multiply and when they did fish, they caught about four times the amount per season than they did prior to the quota.

Nature has a continuous ability to equalize. We as humans have a continuous ability to unequalize, which is because of the greed.

The goal is to find an equilibrium for both to sustain and thrive. Lobstering isn't just a paycheck for locals, it's tradition and a heritage of many families and of the beautiful state that we live in. Support the lobster fleet, support the tradition.

Editor's note: The writer lives in Mystic.