Story at a glance
- Maine lawmakers are considering establishing a legal defense fund for the lobster fishing industry to help them navigate upcoming regulations.
- Republican state representative and lobsterman William Faulkingham proposed the measure, which would establish the fund and form a commission to govern it.
- Faulkingham said the industry is facing “crippling regulations and industry collapsing lawsuits.”
Maine lawmakers are considering establishing a legal defense fund for the lobster fishing industry to help them navigate upcoming regulations meant to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Republican state representative and lobsterman William Faulkingham proposed the measure, which would establish the fund — supported by license surcharges and lobster trap tag sales — and form a commission to govern it, The Associated Press reported. In a public hearing Tuesday, Faulkingham said the industry is facing “crippling regulations and industry collapsing lawsuits.”
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the state’s largest lobster organization, reportedly testified Tuesday it cannot yet support the measure without a better understanding of how the fund and commission would work.
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Maine lawmakers on Monday asked for a two-month delay of new federal lobster fishing regulations to give the industry enough time to achieve compliance. The group sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo requesting she postpone implementation of the rules from May 1, 2022 to July 1, 2022.
Under the new guidelines, lobstermen would be required to use weak rope to better protect whales. But lawmakers argued the cost to the lobster industry outweighs the potential harm to whales.
The delegation wrote that “extending the deadline by 60 days would present negligible additional risk to whales but would meaningfully reduce the economic harm to the lobster fishery.”
“Should the compliance date change to July 1, the [National Marine Fisheries Service] Decision Support Tool shows a potential increase in risk to whales of just 0.9 percent. On the other hand, failure to delay the rule will cost the industry $7.3 million.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that there are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales remaining. The species has been critically endangered since 1970.
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