DARIEN, CT – Late in June, 14 years after a major lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed into law a bill banning the use of the pesticides methoprene and resmethrin in coastal areas due to their toxicity to fish, lobsters, and other aquatic invertebrates. The ban went into effect on July 1.
“Working with the lobster industry in Connecticut, it became clear that use of these two pesticides was a problem that needed addressing,” said state Sen. Robert Duff. “In a bi-partisan vote, we were able to ban the chemicals and send a strong message that we will work hard to restore the industry. There may be other factors that contributed to the die-off, but this was a concrete step for us to take.”
Passage of the legislation was a victory for the Connecticut lobster industry and especially for Roger Frate Sr., owner of Darien Seafood in Darien, CT and a former lobsterman, who has been tireless in campaigning for the ban.
“I knew back then that it wasn’t hypoxia,” he said of the 1999 die-off. “It was the first time that they were spraying for mosquitoes against West Nile virus. The lobsters were plentiful, then came the spraying, then Hurricane Floyd, then the lobsters were running to the east and dying.”…
Read the rest and much, much more in the November issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online immediately and download for future reference.
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