PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 22, 2022
The lobster industry’s desire for data to establish a negative impact is reasonable; however, if you are looking for supremely explanatory data, you will not find it. We know the species is in grave peril. The whirlwind of umbrage by the Maine delegation is misguided. They all defend the lobstermen, but the whale doesn’t have a constituency. I found Rep. Jared Golden’s comments particularly disturbing. Now that conservation is increasingly difficult, he wants to change the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Doing the right thing collapses before political expediency. Prior to any right whale absorbing a harpoon through its lungs, the estimated population was 21,000. After that, it plummeted to less than 100. A profound moral impetus supports these regulations. Instead of podium wonking, elected officials could obtain the federal funds to assist the Maine lobstermen, obtain Canadian cooperation and obtain public funds for equipment purchases. Whalers said it was the right whale to kill. Now, it is the right whale to save. ~ Kenneth P. Burke, M.D., New Portland