FREE PRESS • September 21, 2021
At the end of August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced new regulations that will pose a serious threat to Maine’s lobster industry. The new regulations will close at least 950 square miles of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering from October to January, which is the most lucrative season. The regulations are supposed to protect the endangered right whale species. However, these new rules come at a time when there is no evidence or data to suggest that Maine lobstering is responsible for the deaths of right whales. That’s why over 150 legislators wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to roll back NOAA’s new rules.