PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 15, 2022
A day after Maine lobstermen reported a record-value catch in 2021, a group of lawmakers overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to dole out $30 million in state funds to help the lobster industry comply with new federal conservation rules aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales. It’s unusual for a state taxpayer-funded relief effort to target a single industry, but Democratic Rep. Holly Stover of Boothbay, the bill’s sponsor, said the strict regulations coming for the lobster industry have created a special circumstance.