Tag Archives: Maine’s congressional delegation
Maine Lobster Industry Faces off against Conservationists over Whale Protections
Maine lobster fishers recently won reprieve on new federal regulations to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. According to the Maine’s Lobstermen Association, The regulations could dramatically change lobster fishing practices, impacting fishers and Maine’s island communities who depend upon this resource. In 2023, a federal court ruled in favor of the Center and other groups, finding that NOAA had violated the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, and was not doing enough to reduce the lobster industry’s threat to right whales. But Maine’s community of lobster fishers are encouraged by the decision. “It gives us time to take a breath,” Steve Train, a commercial lobster fisher from Long Island, Maine, tells Food Tank. “Some people think it might be the end of it all, but I think most people see a little light now that we can work under.” “In the last 25 years, there has been one documented entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale in Maine fishing gear,” Train says. more, >>click to read<< 13:16

Maine Delegation, Gov. Mills asks BOEM to listen to fishermen, remove LMA1 from wind power planning

Maine Pols Brag About Stopping Unscientific Lobster Regs in Monsterous $1.7T Omnibus Bill
Maine’s Congressional Delegation and Gov. Janet Mills gave themselves a hearty pat on the back Tuesday for convincing Members of Congress to temporarily halt an unscientific regulatory crusade on the Maine lobstering industry. Maine’s Congressional Delegation has in recent years also voted to massively increase NOAA’s funding, meaning Maine lawmakers helped fund the very crusade they’re now bragging about halting, temporarily. All told, NOAA’s funding has increased by more than $6 billion since President Joe Biden took office, all with the support of Maine’s elected officials. >click to read< 11:09

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

Shortsighted Petition about whale regulations in Mass draws response from Maine
Enviro groups have filed a petition with the NMFS seeking immediate emergency action requiring the commercial fishing industry to protect endangered right whales from entanglement off the coast of Massachusetts. Members of Maine’s Congressional delegation responded in opposition to that petition with a letter to the Department of Commerce, calling it shortsighted. The petition suggests ropeless fishing could be used, and even though it targets Massachusetts, Maine’s commercial fishing industry is watching, according to Mike Dassatt, who is on the board of the Downeast Lobsterman’s Association,, “We need to be supporting Massachusetts because here in Maine, it would put way too many people out of business,”,, >click to read< 07:15

Maine political leaders join lobster haulers to rally against new rules
Gov. Janet Mills and almost all of Maine’s congressional delegation will participate in a rally Sunday protesting new federal regulations aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale, but also could cause large-scale disruption in this state’s lobster industry. Maine lobstermen support protecting the whales, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 420 during the past decade, but say that the new regulations,,, >click to read< 12:56