PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 30, 2021
The Maine Department of Marine Resources has been granted “intervenor” status in a federal lawsuit brought by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association against federal regulators over new lobstering restrictions intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Gov. Janet Mills’ office said Thursday that it sought to intervene in the lawsuit before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., “to stand up for the lobster industry and its hardworking men and women in the face of the federal government’s burdensome proposal.” In August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a new set of rules for New England’s lobster fishery aimed at reducing the risk to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and other whale species.