PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 7, 2022
Gov. Janet Mills and all four members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to delay a May 1 deadline for the state’s lobster industry to deploy whale-friendly fishing gear, including weak ropes and links. In a letter sent Monday to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Maine’s political leaders said the deadline will be impossible for some lobstermen to meet because the equipment is expensive and hard to procure. They are seeking a delay of 60 days.