A six-year delay of new federal rules could give the lobster industry time to pursue legal and legislative avenues to assure the long-term future of the fishery. The legal battle is underway.
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Maine’s lobster industry is threatened by federal regulations that will require the fishery to reduce its risk to the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Recent federal legislation sets the regulations to take effect in 2028.
“We’ve got a six-year reprieve, but we really don’t know what’s going to happen after that six years — and how big the cut’s going to be,” says Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “If you’re running a business and don’t know what’s going to happen, how do you plan for your business?”
Still, he adds, the six-year delay will “give us time to pursue all legal and legislative avenues to assure the long-term future of this fishery.”
In 2021, the National Marine Fisheries Service released a 10-year plan that requires the fishery to reduce its already minimal risk to the right whale. The association, arguing that the goal is unachievable and impossible for the industry to survive, is suing the federal government to stop the plan and asking the court to fix it using accurate science so that right whales can be saved without sacrificing the lobster fishery.
For fishermen, the day-to-day realities are uncertain.
“You go out fishing, but as far as investing in your business — buying new equipment or new traps or whatever — a lot of people are maybe holding back on that,” he says. “And that affects the supply chain, like trap builders and boat builders and banks. It is affecting folks now, before the regulations even go into effect.”
The association continues to pursue avenues to have its legal claims addressed. To that end, the association retained attorney Paul Clement, who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court and served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush.
Fundraising to support the legal battle is underway.
“We’re raising funds as fast as we can,” says Porter. “We’re hiring the best and trying to do whatever we can do to save this industry.”
The long-term future? If regulations go into law as currently written, “that’s the expiration date on the fishery,” he says.