Dear Governor Healey,

Please ask the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to present the scientific basis for their decision to significantly reduce the number of lobsters allowed to go to market.

Lobster landings have increased annually for 35 years, making lobstering our most valuable single-species fishery. Meanwhile, fewer lobster larvae settle out of the plankton for life on the ocean bottom. Young lobster larvae numbers declined 39% in four years when 2020-2022 estimates are compared to 2016-2018.

This is not new as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has documented a decline in lobster larvae since 2012. However, the commission is now mandating an eighth-of-an-inch increase in legal lobster carapace size for 2026, and a further eighth-of-an-inch increase in 2027.  Throwing these lobsters back will reduce the catch by 30% while increasing the work of lobstermen for each lobster landed by nearly a third.

Before lobstermen take it on the chin, let’s look at the carcinology of lobsters. A female lobster weighing a single pound typically carries about 8,000 eggs, which hatch between 18 to 24 months. The newly hatched lobster larvae float as zooplankton for four to six weeks before settling on the ocean floor to begin their benthic life. It takes a lobster 5 to 8 years to reach adulthood. Of every 50,000 eggs, only about two lobsters survive to reach the current legal size.

Throwing lobsters back to address declines in lobster larvae populations will be as effective as carrying coal to Newcastle. It does not address what is happening to young lobsters drifting about in the plankton.

Since 2000, phytoplankton has declined 65%, and copepods, crucial components of the marine food web, have lost their caloric value. As a result, lobster larvae must consume more copepods to obtain the same nutritional value. This decline in phytoplankton can be partially be attributed to the increased usage of glyphosate, the killer chemical in the herbicide Roundup. In 1996, Monsanto-engineered seeds resistant to glyphosate as well as the use of Roundup on the land increased tenfold.

Urbanization replacing spongy vegetation and healthy soils with hard surfaces has also dramatically increased stormwater overflow. This change has resulted in more polluted and warmer stormwater reaching the sea.

We need to decrease the volume of stormwater entering the marine environment to restore ocean health and productivity. Slow the water in neighborhoods with more plants and deeper soil, replace pavement with permeable pavers, and create rain gardens. Don’t let Roundup and other glyphosate herbicides reach the sea, and save water in communities for plants during dry periods.

Effective management of water resources on land can increase phytoplankton productivity, improve copepod weights, and enhance the survival rates of lobster larvae. By addressing the root causes of the decline in young lobster larvae, we can ensure a healthier and more sustainable marine ecosystem for future generations.

Dr. Rob Moir

President and executive director of Cambridge-based Ocean River Institute