Industry association decries new ‘avoid’ rating of lobster

Courtesy / Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Lobstermen's Association decried a new report that urges consumers to "avoid" lobster.

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By Laurie Schreiber

The head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and Gov. Janet Mills slammed a new rating that urges consumers to "avoid" lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine.

On Tuesday, Seafood Watch updated its rating for lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank from a “good alternative” to a seafood consumers should “avoid.”

Seafood Watch is owned and operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif. Its latest rating report covered numerous fisheries along the U.S. coasts.

While the designation was assigned based on the potential danger North Atlantic right whales face in getting entangled in fishing gear, there has not been a right whale entanglement attributed to Maine lobster gear in 18 years, Mills said.

“This designation is flat out wrong,” Mills said in a news release. “It sends the wrong message about Maine lobster, and it insults thousands of hardworking lobstermen who risk their lives to put food on the table while practicing responsible stewardship and taking action to protect whales.”

“Lobster is one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world due to the effective stewardship practices handed down through generations of lobstermen,” said Patrice McCarron, director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

Seafood Watch said the fishery was downgraded because it “poses a risk to overfished or at-risk species, including endangered North Atlantic right whales.”

The assessment said entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of serious injury and death to North Atlantic right whales. As a result, bycatch management was deemed ineffective for all trap and set gillnet fisheries operating within the whale’s range because management measures “do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the species.”

“Some measures to protect the ecosystem have been implemented, but stronger policies are needed to protect American lobster’s role in the food web,” the assessment said.

McCarron said the fishery has implemented strict protections for both the lobster resource and right whales.

“MLA is extremely disappointed that any group claiming to care about conservation and sustainability would give a poor rating to a fishery that has led the way in innovating safer gear and has not had a documented interaction with a right whale in nearly 20 years,” she said.

Mills said the designation misleads consumers and businesses.

“Generations of Maine lobstermen have worked hard to protect the sustainability of the lobster fishery, and they have taken unprecedented steps to protect right whales — efforts that the federal government and now Seafood Watch have failed to recognize,” Mills said.

She added, “Consumers and businesses must see through this list and recognize that lobstermen are partners in conservation and sustainability and that the delicious Maine lobster can and should continue to be enjoyed.”