Christopher Shays: “In 1999, we saw the nearly complete disappearance of lobsters in Western Long Island Sound and the destruction of our…”

“In 1999, we saw the nearly complete disappearance of lobsters in Western Long Island Sound and the destruction of our commercial lobster fishery. Many of the men and women who depend on this industry are faced with having to sell their boats, traps, and other equipment; and many of them will soon lose their homes, as well. Commerce Secretary Daley has already declared the Sound a commercial beneficiary failure under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, paving the way for emergency supplemental funding. According to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the State as a whole saw an 81 percent decline in pounds of lobster caught in the fall of 1999. The towns of Greenwich and the City of Stanford, the western-most part of Connecticut, showed declines greater than 99 percent. This is not merely a bad year; it is a disappearance of a species. It is a disaster no one anticipated and, therefore, no one prepared for. Researchers from Connecticut and New York, working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, have indicated a parasite is responsible for the die-off but have not been able to identify why the parasite is suddenly flourishing.”