MAINE PUBLIC • October 15, 2021
Lobstermen and conservationists are awaiting a high-stakes court decision on a plan to bar lobster trap-rope from a nearly 1,000-square mile area off Maine's coast. The federal restriction is set to go into effect on Monday, and last through the end of January. It's the first in a series of new federal gear rules aimed at reducing the risk that North Atlantic right whales will be entangled with trap rope and gear. But the Maine Lobstering Union says the restricted zone's layout and timing were based on flawed models. Erica Fuller, a lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation, says that the roughly 120 boats that fish in or near the restriction zone will be able to find viable territory nearby.