Connecticut Fails to Continue Lobster V-Notch Program for Long Island Sound

I once asked a Connecticut DEP official if the fish ladders he was working on really worked, which prompted him to sneer sarcastically something like, "No, we're doing it because it doesn't work," which prompted me to remark that it's not exactly unknown in the history of government for money to be poured into projects that don't work.

Which brings me to Connecticut's relatively new v-notch program. As a way to try to increase the breeding stock of lobsters in Long Island Sound, the state pays lobstermen to cut a notch in the tale of females and then throw the females back. If they subsequently catch a female with a notch in her tale, it is illegal to keep it. That gives the females extra time to lay eggs.

I have no idea if the program is effective or not. Presumably the Connecticut State Legislature doesn't really know either. Nevertheless they decided the $1.1 million it costs was too expensive and failed to fund it this year. Here's the Times report.