Lobster Catch Declines

BRIDGEPORT (AP) — Connecticut officials say the state’s 2008 commercial lobster catch in Long Island Sound was the smallest in 25 years and that likely means new size restrictions on future catches.

The Department of Environmental Protection says state lobstermen caught about 387,000 pounds of lobster last year, a 31 percent drop from 2007. The 2008 total is only about a tenth of the 3.7 million pounds lobstermen caught in 1998.

DEP officials say Connecticut lobstermen are still grappling with a die-off in the Sound that began in the late 1990s. Scientists are not sure about what caused the die-off, but many lobstermen blame pesticides sprayed in coastal towns to prevent West Nile virus.

Officials say they will likely increase the legal size of lobsters that can be caught next January.