MIMINEGASH, Prince Edward Island (AP) – A Canadian lobster fisherman is calling for a license buyback program in his part of Prince Edward Island, which he says is overcrowded with lobstermen.

The district where Kerry Ellsworth fishes is the smallest in Atlantic Canada, but is home to the second-largest number of lobster fishermen. Ellsworth says the local lobster fishery is on the verge of collapse because there are so many lobstermen setting traps.

The call for a license buyback comes as Canada’s lobster industry, like Maine’s, suffers from falling demand amid the struggling global economy.

Ellsworth says if the federal government is prepared to bail out industries like Ontario’s auto sector, it should be prepared to help struggling lobster fishermen.