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Maine Gov. Janet Mills said Monday she has “grave concern” about a federal plan aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, and warned that if the plan is adopted it could prove economically devastating to the state and endanger the Maine lobster fishery.
“The survival of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery, and in fact, our heritage, through the future of Maine’s independent lobstermen and women, depend on your willingness to act,” Mills wrote in a letter filed with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration on Feb. 19.
Mills wrote that Maine fishermen should not be penalized by the fact that right whales swim into Canadian waters and suffer injuries from fishing gear.
In a cover letter included with DMR’s comments, Governor Janet Mills expressed “grave concern” about the draft Bi-Op, warning it will be economically devastating and will fundamentally change Maine’s lobster fishery.
“In the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery,” wrote Governor Mills. Despite other documented sources of serious injury and mortality to right whales, the draft Biological Opinion, a requirement of the Endangered Species Act, includes a Conservation Framework that calls for a 98 percent risk reduction over ten years in US fixed gear fisheries, including lobster.”
Governor Mills highlighted the Maine lobster industry’s decades of progress in protecting right whales. “Maine fishermen have worked collaboratively with the Department of Marine Resources for over twenty years to develop and implement measures to protect whales. They have been active participants at the Atlant
Lobster fishermen are worried that federal regulations, proposed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglement in fishing gear, could put the industry out of business.
Conservationists worry the whale won’t survive much longer, given increased concerns about gear entanglement and ship strikes.
The National Marine Fisheries Service an agency that’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is responsible for overseeing fishing in federal waters is in the midst of holding hearings on proposed modifications to the federal government’s “Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”
Proposed changes aim to reduce entanglement in trap and pot fisheries for right whales, as well as humpback and finback whales, in order to reduce death and serious injury in accordance with two federal fishery laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
On Feb. 19 The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the draft Biological Opinion for ten fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. In a cover letter included with DMR’s comments, Governor Janet Mills expressed “grave concern” about the draft Bi-Op, warning it will be economically devastating and will fundamentally change Maine’s lobster fishery.
“In the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery,” wrote Governor Mills. Despite other documented sources of serious injury and mortality to right whales, the draft Biological Opinion, a requirement of the Endangered Species Act, includes a Conservation Framework that calls for a 98 percent risk reduction over ten years in US fixed gear fisheries, including lobster.”
Mills expresses ‘grave concern’ over plans to protect North Atlantic right whales
The governor calls on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop practical protection rules that won t harm Maine s lobster industry.
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Maine Gov. Janet Mills said Monday she has “grave concern” about a federal plan aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, and warned that if the plan is adopted it could prove economically devastating to the state and endanger the Maine lobster fishery.
“The survival of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery, and in fact, our heritage, through the future of Maine’s independent lobstermen and women, depend on your willingness to act,” Mills wrote in a letter filed with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration on Feb. 19.