Shipping rule won't affect Maine
The federal government is moving forward with a plan to impose speed limits on large vessels along the East Coast in an effort to protect right whales, and Maine is finally figuring out how the rule could affect its shipping industry.
John Henshaw, executive director of the Maine Port Authority, told Mainebiz this morning that the impact on the Maine's economy would be negligible. "I don't expect any significant effect on the shipping industry in Maine," he said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration yesterday recommended a speed limit of 10 knots or less in designated whale habitat zones along the eastern seaboard, according to a press release from NOAA. The speed limit would apply to a 20-nautical-mile stretch of coastline from the southeast up to Cape Cod, but not the Maine coast.
Federal regulations to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale, however, are being felt by Maine's lobster industry, which has until April to switch to gear that is less likely to entangle right whales.
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