Lobster Hatchery Revival
A report just out from a technical committee of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission documents the perilous state of lobster stocks in southern New England, and much like the groundfish stocks on Georges Bank, the news is far from good.
It is a cold January morning and inside the Massachusetts State Lobster Hatchery on Lagoon Pond in Oak Bluffs, all is quiet. It has been 14 years since lobsters swam in bubbling tanks and thousands of summer visitors were treated to tours of this place overlooking the Lagoon.
A top lobster scientist told a gathering at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday night that the Massachusetts Lobster Hatchery in Oak Bluffs should become operational again. With new advances in the understanding of how lobsters live, the use of hatcheries can be far more effective, said Jelle Atema, a professor and Boston University marine biologist.
A $1 million project to upgrade and expand the Massachusetts State
Lobster Hatchery in Oak Bluffs is on hold while the state addresses its
fiscal crisis. Massachusetts state lobster hatchery director Mike Syslo
he is not surprised, given the budget cutting going on in Boston.
Two months ago, the hatchery's saltwater pumps were shut off. Jim Rossignol, the assistant hatchery biologist, has moved back to the mainland.