PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 19, 2022
Maine’s lobster fishery is at risk of losing a key sustainability label over concerns for the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Industry members, meanwhile, say the idea that Maine’s lobster fishery poses an environmental threat is nonsensical. The California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program is considering which species to add to its “red list,” and North American lobster from both the U.S. and Canadian fisheries is a candidate, as are over a dozen other species fished up and down the East Coast, according to a draft assessment. Lobster harvesters, though, argue that the new rules not only put their livelihoods and safety at risk, but also won’t do anything to protect the whales, which they claim aren’t even present in Maine waters, contradicting scientific surveys.