Legal sizes for lobsters could change to protect population

By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The rules about the minimum and maximum sizes of lobsters that can be trapped off New England could soon become stricter, potentially bringing big changes to one of the most valuable seafood industries in the country. Fishers are required to measure lobsters from eyes to tail and must throw back the crustaceans if they’re too large or too small. The rules are intended to maintain a breeding population of the lobsters in key areas such as the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering changing the standards by a fraction of an inch in some of the fishing grounds.