MAINE PUBLIC • October 4, 2021
The fight over federal lobster-gear rules that aim to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales continues to expand. On Monday, the Maine Lobstering Union announced it is filing a federal lawsuit to try to stop the impending closure of more than 950 square miles of fishing grounds off Maine to traditional lobstering. That restriction is set to go into effect in two weeks. The lobstering union action follows on the heels of another federal suit filed by a different group, the Maine Lobstermen's Association, that takes aim at the feds 10-year whale protection plan, which that group says is based on outdated information. Also on Monday, an international conservation group, Oceana, filed a complaint about the federal rules with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation, a multinational inter-governmental trade group.