Penobscot Nation cheers EPA ruling
In what the Penobscot Nation sees as a major step forward in protecting its fishing rights, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final ruling on state water quality standards on the tribe’s namesake river.
Even though the state of Maine and the tribe are locked in a federal lawsuit over the water quality, Maine Public reported that both sides agree that under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, the Penobscots have sustenance fishing rights. The state has argued that it cannot guarantee the quality of the fish in the waters, according to Maine Public.
Ken Moraff, the EPA’s director of water quality, tole Maine Public he questions the state’s logic and that the new ruling addresses the matter.
“The EPA ruling makes it clear that where there are sustenance fishing rights, then the standards for those waters have to protect the health of the people who exercise those fishing rights,” he told the station. “It doesn’t make sense to have a sustenance fishing right, if the fish aren’t healthy enough to eat.”
Tribal leaders told Maine Public they’re not sure what effect the final EPA rule might have on pending litigation with the state. Representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine attorney general’s office were not made available for comment, Maine Public said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments