Tag Archives: Maine Lobstermen’s Association
A year after record-breaking catch, value of Maine lobster landings are lowest in a decade
Maine lobstermen hauled in the least valuable lobster catch in a decade last year, when a decrease in price per pound and higher operational costs gave them less incentive to get out on the water. The $389 million haul, a 47% drop from 2021’s record-shattering catch,,, The size of the haul, 98 million pounds, was nearly identical to the 10-year low hit in 2020, when lobstermen also scaled back operations, then because of the closure of traditional markets as a result of the pandemic. Kristan Porter, a lobsterman from Cutler and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, laid the blame for the drop in price per pound squarely on the economy. >click to read< 11:06
Maine delegation to fight bill that would repeal ‘pause’ in lobstering regulations
When Congress passed a law in December that included a six-year reprieve from new federal regulations for the lobster industry, the fishery heaved a sigh of relief. But if a new bill introduced this week in the House of Representatives is approved, that relief would be short-lived. Maine’s congressional delegation says they are committed to ensuring that doesn’t happen. On Monday, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, introduced The Restoring Effective Science-based Conservation Under Environmental Laws Protecting Whales Act, or the RESCUE Whales Act. If passed, the bill would repeal the protections for the lobster fishery that were included in the 2022 federal omnibus spending law. The omnibus poses an “existential threat” to the North Atlantic right whale, undermines the science-based protections of both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and ignores possible solutions like “ropeless gear,” Grijalva said in a statement. >click to read< 11:31
Maine lobster industry wages legal battle over recent regulations, while new ones remain frozen
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association in September appealed a ruling in a lawsuit against federal regulators in which a judge rejected the association’s attempt to block the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 10-year plan to reduce the risk posed by fishing gear to North Atlantic right whales. The animals risk injury or death when they become entangled in lines or gear. The case has been moving with relative speed through the court system, with oral arguments presented in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., last week. The association argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, failed to rely on the best scientific information available and did not account for the impact of conservation measures already adopted by the Maine lobster fishery. In effect, the lobstermen argue, the federal government placed its thumb on the scale in favor of the whales. >click to read< 10:56
Federal court hears arguments from Maine lobstermen appealing right whale regulations
A federal appeals court heard arguments Friday from the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, which is challenging a government plan to regulate the fishery and conserve endangered right whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association had promised to take its latest appeal of federal fishing regulations all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. But lobstermen hope they’ll avoid that prospect, especially with Paul Clement, an attorney with more than 100 past Supreme Court appearances, representing Maine. >click to read< 07:22
Radical Wind Farm Activists Blame Blue-Collar Fishermen for Whale Deaths
Dead whales are washing ashore on the East Coast at a disturbing clip. But many radical environmentalists, purported friends of the poor sea creatures, are hard at work deflecting blame from the possible culprit – the late surge of offshore wind farm development in the Atlantic. Lobstermen and commercial fishermen are the favored scapegoat of the dark money environmental lobby. There have been almost 20 “large whale strandings” on the east coast since Dec. 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s too premature to assign blame to any particular cause. Despite these disturbing trends, Biden environmental regulators are obsessively targeting lobstermen, citing the supposed threat they pose to endangered whales. >click to read< 08:08
Biden Administration sued by Massachusetts lobstermen for closing waters to protect endangered whales
Massachusetts lobster fishermen have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its closure of fishing grounds done with the intention of protecting an endangered species of whale. The lawsuit stems from the February 1 closure of 200 square miles of the Massachusetts Bay that will prevent lobster fishing until the end of April in a move that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says was necessary to protect the North Atlantic right whales from being tangled in fishing ropes. Video, >click to read< 08:02
MLA back in court this month over federal lobstering rules
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association continues its court fight against the National Marine Fisheries Service, challenging its biological opinion for the endangered right whale, released in May 2021, and the science used to inform it. The MLA lost its original lawsuit in Sept. 2022 but was granted the right to appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 24 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Lobstering Union Lodge 207, the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, are intervenors in the case. “[The six-year delay] just really amplifies the concerns that the MLA has had,” MLA executive director Patrice McCarron said. “It highlights and exemplifies the importance of the work we’ve done and the importance of letting the lawsuit run its course.” >click to read< 09:23
Preserving our lobstering heritage
When Maine’s lobster industry looks back on 2022, we’ll likely remember the challenges — high bait and fuel prices, low dock prices, shortages of marine supplies, and a complicated legal challenge that threatens to end the fishery as we know it. But we’ll also remember the many heartwarming times when people and communities came together, just as they did in the Harpswell, Orr’s and Bailey islands region in early November. >click to read< 13:24
Maine lobstermen: The other endangered species?
When President Biden signs the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill into law, Maine’s lobster industry will take a six-year step back from the brink thanks to the efforts of Maine’s congressional delegation which secured a last-minute addition that put further restrictions to protect endangered right whales on hold. “The pause doesn’t mean this is over,” said Boothbay’s Troy Plummer, member of Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) board of directors and lobster boat operator for nine years. “Everything is status quo until 2028, but we’ll have to do our homework,” said Boothbay Harbor’s Clive Farrin, lobsterman for more than 20 years and past president of Downeast Lobstermen’s Association. >click to read< 10:10
Green Groups Ignore Genuine Risks To Whales From Offshore Wind Farms
Environmentalists want to crack down on the Maine lobster industry in the name of protecting endangered whales, but they turn a blind eye to the greater threat to whales from proposed offshore wind farms. The irony is almost as delicious as the lobster dinners at stake. Green groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife routinely target commercial fishing by claiming that it causes ancillary harm to marine species protected under the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws. This includes the North Atlantic right whale, whose population of only 350 or so migrates up and down the Atlantic Coast and can cross prime lobster territory off New England. >click to read< 11:52
Zero means zero. ‘We’ve been innocent:’ Federal spending bill could provide lifeline for Maine lobstermen
Tuesday, Maine’s congressional delegation moved to block plans for even stricter federal regulations on Maine lobstermen designed to protect the right whale. If approved, the measure would give the U.S. lobster fishery six years before any further action is taken to prevent fishing gear from entangling whales. Lobstermen say there’s no need for new regulations on them, claiming there’s no evidence whales are getting snared in their gear, but environmentalists say this puts right whales on a path to extinction. “Zero means zero. I mean, we’ve had zero entanglements in the last 20 years,” Knight said. “There’s never been a death attributed to Maine lobster gear. We’ve been innocent right along.” Video, photos, >click to read< 09:20
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Statement on Omnibus Appropriations Bill
12/20/2022 -Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, and Governor Janet Mills announced that they were successful in securing a regulatory pause for Maine’s lobster industry in the Omnibus funding package that is expected to pass the Senate and House this week. Following is a statement from Patrice McCarron, Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association: “The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) is encouraged that Congress recognizes that the federal rulemaking process intended to protect right whales is broken. Please >click to read the statement< The comment section is open.16:09
Maine political leaders push provision in federal spending bill decried by environmental groups as threat to right whales
Members of the delegation, including US Senator Susan Collins, said they plan to push a provision in the spending bill that would revive for 10 years federal fisheries rule that environmental groups successfully challenged in court earlier this year. Congressional leaders announced a framework for the spending legislation last Tuesday, and plan to use the days before Christmas to finalize details. In a letter Friday to Democratic congressional leaders, 15 environmental groups urged lawmakers to leave the language out of the spending bill. “This is a profound and disturbing end run around the legal system,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, on Saturday in a phone interview. >click to read< 07:44
Lobster more than a Maine event
The headline said that Whole Foods would no longer be selling Maine lobster in its stores. My first reaction was to wonder what the lowly, although expensive crustacean had done to warrant such action from Whole Foods usually described as an upscale grocery chain that is owned by Amazon and as such is a part of the Jeff Bezos’ empire. To add insult to injury the California based Monterey Bay Aquarium through its environment focused seafood watch went and “red listed” Maine lobsters. I guess that means shipments of Maine lobsters will be stopped at the California border. I wonder if that includes the border with Mexico where just about anything gets through? Obviously, the Maine lobstering industry is up in arms over all this. >click to read< By Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr 12:56
Maine lobstermen warn Biden Administration is trying to put them out of business with harsh eco rules
Industry groups and both Democratic and Republican lawmakers from Maine are sounding the alarm that a pending federal environmental regulation would crush the state’s vaunted lobster industry, The proponents of Maine’s nearly $1 billion lobster industry have argued that federal rules aimed at protecting the endangered right whale species from fishing equipment in federally managed waters are unfairly attacking blue-collar lobstermen who rely on the resource to make a living. They have warned that the regulation threatens the livelihood of thousands of Maine lobstermen and individuals employed in supporting industries. Video, Photos, >click to read< 14:00
Walton: Maine lobsters — a coast to coast dispute
Some years back I wrote about my distaste for seafood. If it swims in our oceans or lakes, I don’t eat it. To my surprise, many readers acknowledged they feel the same. So perhaps they are as shocked as I am that I rise to the defense of the Maine lobster industry, which finds itself on a prominent and respected environmental “watch” list, threatening thousands of jobs up and down the Maine coast. Why should a guy who prefers a good burger care? >click to read< 08:19
Whole Foods to stop selling Gulf of Maine lobster
The Marine Stewardship Council suspended the certification of sustainability for the fishery last week, citing a failure to comply with laws meant to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The fishery was also added to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “red list” in September due to the same fishing practices which the seafood watch program deems harmful. Whole Foods says it will stop buying Gulf of Maine lobster until the suspension is lifted or the fishery is taken off the red list. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association feels the MSC decertification is the “direct result of the federal government’s overreach and its misuse of science in overestimating risk from the Maine lobster fishery,” >click to read< 08:25
Court decision offers new hope for Maine lobstermen fighting new regulations
A small sign of hope for Maine Lobstermen as a federal judge in D.C. District Court has ruled that new lobster fishing restrictions designed to protect North Atlantic Right Whales will be delayed until 2024 to give the government time to draft more effective regulations. “We need to have time to get this done right,” said Maine Lobstering Union Executive Director Virginia Olsen. Judge Boasberg had previously ruled that fishing restrictions issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA didn’t go far enough to protect the whales. His new ruling sends the current biological opinion, which is the document containing the rules and the science behind them, back to NOAA. >click to read< 10:43
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Statement on Recent Court Decision
On November 17, Judge James Boasberg issued a remedy order in the lawsuit, Center for Biological Diversity v. Raimondo. Following is a statement from Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “While the Court’s decision offers lobstermen some hope, it by no means resolves the issues facing our industry. We appreciate that the Judge recognizes the need to avoid massive disruption of the fishery, but the simple truth is lobstermen are still mandated to achieve a 90% risk reduction in 2 years which cannot happen without causing significant harm to the fishery. Please >click here to read the press release< 10:12
Lobster industry leaders vow to continue fight to protect Maine’s iconic fishery
Maine lobster industry officials told business leaders Thursday that they will continue to fight what they see as unfair and unnecessary federal rules meant to protect endangered right whales. “We are well over a $2 billion industry to the state primarily operating in communities without other job prospects,” Patrice McCarron, head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said. “It cannot be overstated.” Lobsterman Curt Brown, who is also a marine biologist, said the industry has been taking steps to protect the whales since the 1990s, including replacing floating ropes, using weak links so ropes break more easily and removing 30,000 miles of rope from the Gulf of Maine. >click to read< 07:34
How Did Gulf of Maine Lobster Get Canceled?
No one confessed to knowing that, just a few weeks before, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, an agenda setting program for sustainability-minded seafood buyers and chefs, had shocked the industry by placing Gulf of Maine lobster on its “red list” of species to avoid. Not Dodie Neo, an Ohioan retiree who’d been in line for 45 minutes when I approached her. Knowing about the red listing, however, wouldn’t have stopped her from ordering. “The aquarium has a right to put lobster on whatever list it wants,” she told me. “And I have a right to eat it.” Way down the road, at Highroller Lobster Co., in Portland’s Old Port, the crowd skewed younger and hipper, but wait times were just as long and customers just as surprised to hear about lobster getting canceled. After some discussion, most in line seemed to agree with Rick Conlin, visiting from western Massachusetts, that it didn’t much matter. “I vote for the lobstermen,” he said. >click to read< 10:23
Sustainability group pulls lobster certification over whales
Representatives for Marine Stewardship Council, which is based in London, said Wednesday that the suspension of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s certificate will go into effect on Dec. 15. The organization said in a statement that the danger North Atlantic right whales face from entanglement in fishing gear is a “serious and tragic situation” of “grave concern to all those involved in the fishing industry.” The Maine Lobstermen’s Association feels the MSC decertification is the “direct result of the federal government’s overreach and its misuse of science in overestimating risk from the Maine lobster fishery,” MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said Wednesday. >click to read< 17:42
Federal officials issued ‘economically debilitating’ rules on the Maine lobster industry, court filing says
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association on Thursday filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals as the industry works to beat back regulations that it says will crush Maine’s signature fishery. Federal officials have proposed gear modifications to reduce the incidence of entanglement for endangered right whales, which number about 340. Other regulations would close certain areas to lobster fishing while the whales are migrating. The lobstermen’s association argues that the National Marine Fisheries Service must prove Congress gave it authority to issue stringent rules. >click to read< 07:17
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Files Opening Brief in Appeal of Burdensome Federal Regulations
The fight to save Maine’s iconic lobster industry has reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, as the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) filed its opening brief in a challenge to the federal regulations poised to crush workaday fishermen. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is implementing a rule that requires fishermen to reduce the risk of right whale entanglement with lobster gear by 98 percent. The overwhelming majority of Maine lobstermen are unable to afford compliance with the draconian risk reduction plan, that according to the NMFS, will not even recover the whale population. The plan will likely result in a corporate takeover of the remnants of Maine’s fishery, destroying the culture, charm, and most importantly, the families and communities who have responsibly fished Maine lobsters for generations. >click to read the press release< 11:38
First National Bank supports Maine’s lobster industry with $300K donation
First National Bank announced Monday a $300,000 commitment to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. The donated funds will take the form of a $150,000 direct donation to the MLA’s Save Maine Lobstermen campaign. The MLA is currently appealing a court decision in its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service which, if enacted, would decimate Maine’s lobster industry and negatively affect not only the economy of Maine’s coastal communities, but also the economy of the entire state. Additionally, the Bank will provide longer term support in the amount $150,000 to assist the industry in any way the Association sees fit. >click to read< 11:21
Maine lobster group backs new speed limit on ships to protect whales
A proposal to expand speed limits along the East Coast might have little impact on vessels off Maine and is not directly linked to two lawsuits over pending federal regulations for the state’s lobster fishery. Still, the groups involved in that litigation recently weighed in on the speeding proposal, which is part of broader efforts to save right whales from extinction. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association and four conservation groups supported the stricter limits but took issue with other aspects of the rules and reiterated the priorities that have driven their court battles. >click to read< 09:31
Local banks give to lobster group
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is getting a significant boost from two local banks to help fishermen on land and at sea. The funds come at a time when the MLA is working to represent the state’s lobster fishermen in a years-long legal battle with the federal government over its whale protection plan. Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, which has been in business for more than 135 years, and Machias Savings Bank, with 15 locations including Ellsworth and Bar Harbor, separately donated sums totaling more than a half million dollars to the nonprofit, fishery-focused organization during the last week. For the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, those donations, $325,000 from BHBT and $250,000 from MSB, represent the largest one-time donations that the association has received. >click to read< 08:11
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Assails Inadequate and Inequitable Vessel Speed Rule
KENNEBUNK, Maine – (November 1, 2022), In official comments submitted this week, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) called on the federal government to apply the law fairly as it develops new rules that would protect North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes – which are known to have killed multiple endangered whales in U.S. waters in recent years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed expanding the current mandatory seasonal speed restrictions of 10 knots or less in designated areas of the ocean and require most vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet in length to comply. Though MLA supports the proposed measures in the speed rule, it objects to NOAA’s continuing pattern of over-regulating U.S. commercial fisheries and under-regulating other sectors, leaving endangered whales inadequately protected from deadly human interactions. >click to read<07:53
Fishermen and politicians pledge to battle for Maine’s lobster industry in Stonington
More than 200 lobstermen and supporters amassed in the state’s most valuable fishing port Sunday to say they will continue to fight any attempts to put new regulations on the industry. Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher, one of more than 20 speakers at the rally, said regulators need to get better data on whale migration patterns in the Gulf of Maine. Julie Eaton of Deer Isle, who fishes out of Stonington, said fishermen have repeatedly sacrificed for years, changing their gear to accommodate new regulations. >click to read< 08:31
‘90% reduction decimates this whole town’: Lobsterman’s rally held in Stonington – “If you’re not here fighting for this, there might not be another day,” said Richard Larrabee Jr. “A 90% reduction decimates this whole town, our children ‘s futures. If my son wants to go fishing, he doesn’t have that option.” Video, >click to read<
The fight to protect right whale, lobsters roils Maine politics
In a state where few things matter more than lobster, it’s no surprise that Mainers are getting a hefty portion of crustacean politics as part of the campaigning for the 2022 midterm elections. What is surprising, however, is the high level of anger and frustration pointed squarely at Washington regulators, with many arguing that NOAA’s new rules are unfair and will hit the prized lobster industry far too hard. Rule backers say they’ll help protect a dwindling population of whales that’s at grave risk from fishing gear. “The men and women who make up Maine’s iconic lobster fishery are facing a terrible crisis, a crisis not of their making, a crisis that is due to this administration’s onerous regulations,” photos, >click to read< 12:11
