NATIONAL FISHERMEN • July 14, 2022
A federal appeals court this week upheld a seasonal closure of 967 square miles to lobster fishing in the Gulf of Maine, holding that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted properly in its efforts to prevent potential entanglements of endangered right whales with vertical trap lines. The appeals court gave the lobstermen and NMFS more time to present their arguments over the closure. But in the new order Kayatta said the appeals judges see the lobstermen are unlikely to prevail.