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U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, speaking to journalists in Maine Thursday from Washington, D.C.
May 26, 2022
King, Collins blast fed failure to delay new lobster gear rules
Photo / Renee Cordes
Maine's two U.S. senators said the federal government was wrong not to delay new gear rules for lobstermen that took effect May 1.
Less than a month after much-debated new federal lobster gear rules took effect, Maine's two U.S. senators are lashing out at federal authorities for failing to give the industry more time to get the required equipment.
The new rules are meant to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales by requiring specialized "weak" rope and links, so the animals can break free if caught in the lines.
The rules took effect May 1 despite a request by Maine's congressional delegation to give lobstermen until July 1 to modify their gear, as relayed in a letter this spring to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The new regulations are expected to cost lobstermen more than $7 million in lost fishing time in May and June.
Speaking to journalists from Washington, D.C., on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said, "I think the decision not to extend the deadline is an outrageous abdication of a responsible agency," expressing disappointment in both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce on the issue.
He added that the request for a delay was not to nullify the regulation or circumvent it, but for very practical reasons, saying that supply-chain and other problems prevented the fishermen from getting the required gear by May 1 and occurred through no fault of their own.
King also questioned the need for new requirements in the first place, accusing the two agencies concerned of making regulations that aren't grounded in science.
"The last entanglement of a right whale with lobster gear in Maine waters was 2004," he said. "Since that time, we've made changes in the gear and in the ropes, and the mortalities that we're seeing are almost entirely in Canadian waters ... They [federal officials] are imposing severe penalties on the people of Maine, and the people of our coastal communities, without sufficient scientific basis."
King underscored that while he favors protecting the whales, saying, “I do think there should be some science, some surveys, some empirical basis for the very serious regulations ... They shouldn't have made that change."
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, made a similar argument in rejecting a unanimous consent request to confirm Jainey Kumar Bavishi as assistant secretary of commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The move was aimed at pressuring the agency to be more responsive to the Mane lobster industry.
"NOAA is imposing onerous, possibly impossible, new regulations that do not reflect the reality in the Gulf of Maine with regard to the right whale," Collins said. "This really is outrageous."
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