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Maine lawmakers call for more hearings on whale rules

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government to hold more hearings on whale protection rules to gauge the impact on the state’s commercial fishing industry. In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine, said the federal agency’s decision to hold only one public hearing last week on the new regulations “unacceptable” and called for more engagement with the lobster industry. The lawmakers wrote that the 90% risk reduction target fisheries regulators are pursuing over the next two years to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales would be a “death knell” for lobstermen. >click to read< 19:06