Maine's largest lobster group rejects state plan for right whales
Courtesy / Maine Lobstermen’s Association
This graphic, drawn by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, shows various measures taken by the Maine lobster fishery to protect the North Atlantic right whale.
Maine’s largest lobster industry group cited overreach when it rejected a state plan to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
In a news release Friday, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said the Department of Marine Resources’ plan seeks reductions in fishing gear that exceed the documented risk posed by the the state's lobster fishery.
The association “conducted a thorough analysis of fishing gear removed from entangled right whales which revealed that lobster is the least prevalent gear,” the statement said.
The association said it is also concerned the state’s plan “creates unresolved safety and operational challenges for some sectors of the lobster industry.”
The group will continue to provide constructive feedback to the department and work with members to draft a whale protection plan to address the varying risk to right whales across the Maine lobster fishery while minimizing the operational, safety and economic concerns identified by members, the release said.
The association “remains committed to playing its part in a comprehensive, effective whale conservation plan that enables right whales to recover and thrive."
Last week, the department held three meetings to introduce a modified plan to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale while creating less hardship for the lobster fishing industry than a proposed federal plan.
In June, the federally convened Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team came up with a plan to reduce the risk of entanglement by North Atlantic right whales in lobster fishing gear by 60%.
The risk reduction strategy included removing half the number of lobster trap endlines in the water and using weak rope in the top of remaining endlines, which are the vertical lines that connect lobster traps on the ocean bottom with a buoy at the sea surface.
The state's modified plan hinged on an existing nearshore exemption area that spans the Maine coast, plus a system of “weak” links in the upper parts of the vertical lines, a gear-marking system designed to differentiate gear found on entangled whales from Maine gear, and a data-reporting system to be used by all lobster harvesters.
In an Oct. 11 statement, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said it will continue to study all human interactions with right whales.That includes the role of Canadian fisheries in recent right whale serious injuries and mortality, and the role of all U.S. fisheries that impact right whales.
The federal plan, said the statement, “resulted in a disproportionate assignment of risk to the Northeast lobster fishery” that is inconsistent with federal fisheries data and “at odds with the fishery’s record of an 86% improvement since 2010 in adverse interactions between fishing gear and endangered whales.”
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