ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 23, 2021
The commercial fishery for herring has suffered in recent years due to new restrictions, but those same rules could benefit some of Maine’s most beloved birds. Atlantic puffins, known for their colorful beaks and waddling walks, were once nearly gone from Maine, the only state where they nest. Decades of conservation work have brought Maine’s population of the birds to about 1,300 pairs that nest on small islands off the coast. Puffins are dependent on small fish to survive, and new protections to the herring population could help. Herring are economically important because lobster fishermen have used them to bait traps for generations. Shortages of herring have complicated that in recent years, and bait crunches have resulted.