Federal Regulators Say Maine's Proposed Lobster Gear Rules Don't Go Far Enough

MAINE PUBLIC • February 12, 2020

Federal fisheries regulators are saying that Maine's proposed lobster gear rules, which were designed to reduce the risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, don't go far enough. Patrick Keliher, Maine's commissioner of Marine Resources, delivered the news to lawmakers Tuesday. But in a letter to Maine's Department of Marine Resources last month, the regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service said that the feds would not accept less than a 60 percent risk reduction.