Bill would turn tables on California aquarium that 'red-listed' Maine lobster
File photo courtesy / Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, plan to introduce the "Red Listing Monterey Bay Aquarium Act" in the U.S. House and Senate. The bill will be cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.
A month after California's Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch put Maine lobster on a "red-flag" list of foods to avoid, members of Maine's congressional delegation are hitting back.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said they plan to introduce a bill to halt federal funding to the institution, which has received nearly $197 million in federal money since 2001.
The lawmakers plan to introduce the "Red Listing Monterey Bay Aquarium Act" in the U.S. House and Senate as soon as Congress returns from its recess, a spokesman for King's office told Mainebiz.
Seafood Watch downgraded its rating for lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, which separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean, from a "good alternative" to a seafood consumers should "avoid." The new rating was based on the potential danger of North Atlantic right whales becoming entangled in fishing gear.
That claim was quickly disputed by the head of the Maine Lobstermen's Association and Gov. Janet Mills, who called the new designation a "flat-out lie." The downgrade comes after last year's record catch for Maine's lobster industry in 2021, valued at $724.9 million.
In Wednesday's announcement of their intent to file the legislation, King and Golden cited Monterey Bay Aquarium's lack of adherence to transparency and basic scientific methods.
"Institutions like Monterey Bay Aquarium that claim to be scientific but openly flout available evidence and data should not receive taxpayer funds. It's that simple," Golden said.
King called the aquarium's "red-listing" of Maine lobster a "baseless attack on a sustainable fishery and a clear attempt to put thousands of Maine people out of work."
'Clear message'
The Red Listing Monterey Bay Aquarium Act, King said, "would ensure that Maine people's hard-earned tax dollars aren't funding the aquarium's pseudo-scientific assault on our lobstering communities. It sends a clear message that we will not stand for this outrageous approach to scientific research."
According to its website, the mission of California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium is "to inspire conservation of the ocean," and the aquarium's Seafood Watch team is "shifting the global marketplace to make seafood more sustainable."
The nonprofit's scientists are "rebuilding sea otter populations, transforming fisheries and aquaculture around the world, and working to protect California’s ocean," according to the website.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, will sign on as co-sponsors of the legislation, according to Wednesday's announcement.
All four members of Maine's congressional delegation wrote to the Monterey Bay Aquarium shortly after the red listing decision was made public, calling on the organization to immediately reverse the decision and remedy the significant harm to the iconic industry. The lawmakers also published an open letter to retailers aiming to set the facts straight and urging them to keep selling lobster.
Mills said Wednesday that she backs the bill to take away funding from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, adding, "There must be consequences for their recklessness and their disregard for an industry that is at the heart of our state and our country — and this is a good step in that direction."
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