MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 18, 2022
For generations, the lobstermen of Maine have led the conservation efforts of their industry. The increase of minimum size limits; the implementation of a maximum size; the imposition of restrictions on egg bearing and v-notch lobsters; the restrictiveness of the permitting process itself. These are all initiatives that were led by the lobstermen to preserve the fishery that they and so many Mainers depend upon. They are also committed to the sustainability of the critically endangered North American right whale, adopting necessary measures for their protection for 25 years. These costly measures have been taken with zero evidence that a North American right whale’s entanglement in Maine lobster gear has ever led to one’s death. What more can our lobstermen do than everything they have been asked? ~ Anthony DeBery, Portland