EcoWatch • July 14, 2022
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has ruled to reinstate bans on lobster fishing gear in an area about 1,000 square miles off of the coast of Maine. The ban is a conservation measure meant to protect endangered right whales. In 2021, the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, put restrictions on lobster fishing gear, particularly vertical buoy lines. North Atlantic right whales can get entangled in these fishing lines, and there are fewer than 340 of the species left. The ban was meant to provide more protection for this endangered species. In response, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine put out a preliminary injunction that would halt the ban, but the federal court has just reinstated the ban on Tuesday, July 12.