Mills: Lobster industry needs more time to weigh in on right whale protections

File photo / Laurie Schreiber Gov. Janet Mills urged Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to allow more time for the lobster industry to weigh in on protections for right whales.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Gov. Janet Mills sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging her to provide more time for Maine’s lobster industry to contribute to the next phase of rulemaking to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The letter followed an announcement earlier this month, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of a webinar meeting to get public comment on proposed measures to reduce risk to right whales.

NOAA also asked Maine and other states to conduct their own public comment meetings.

By contrast, when scoping meetings on the first phase of rulemaking were held in 2019, NOAA held four meetings in Maine alone.

Mills said one virtual meeting wasn’t enough. She asked Raimondo to require NOAA to host in-person public hearings in Maine.

“It is unconscionable for NOAA to only hold a single public hearing, and a virtual meeting at that,” Mills wrote. “As NOAA well knows, effectively reaching an audience of fishermen with challenging schedules absolutely requires in-person meetings and opportunities for comment.”

Mills also raised concerns about the timing of the public comment period, which overlaps with a meeting of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team a NOAA advisory group.

Mills said the overlap of the meetings will prevent the take reduction team from utilizing industry feedback generated during NOAA’s public comment meeting.

That feedback, said Mills, could inform the development of new measures for the lobster fishery and other fixed gear fisheries.

Mills concluded her letter by asking Raimondo to extend the public comment period and to hold several in-person meetings in Maine.

“The consequences of this action are simply too great to proceed at this breakneck pace absent the necessary information,” she wrote.