Lobstermen invited to comment on proposed rules to protect whales
The National Marine Fisheries Service has scheduled four public hearings in Maine on proposed rules aimed at reducing the number of vertical buoy lines that could entangle endangered whales swimming in the Gulf of Maine.
The Ellsworth American reported that the NMFS’s 500-page draft environmental impact statement for the proposed rules would require many lobstermen to fish a greater number of traps in a single trawl line, expand requirements for identification markings on their gear and close some areas to fishing during parts of the year. Another set of rules would apply to gillnet fishermen, the newspaper reported.
The public hearings have been scheduled to run on four consecutive evenings in August from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the following locations and dates: University of Maine at Machias, Aug. 5; Ellsworth Public library, Aug. 6; Rockland, Aug. 7; Portland, Aug. 8.
According to The Ellsworth American, the proposed rules would close the 725-square mile Jordan Basin area to trap fishing between November and January and the 607-square-mile Jeffreys Ledge area between October and January. The paper noted that changes in gear-marking requirements would affect 6,130 fishing boats along the Atlantic seaboard.
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