SEAFOOD SOURCE • August 31, 2021
NOAA Fisheries has announced a set of new regulations intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale from entanglement-related incidents. The regulations will cost the Northeast lobster fishery $ 9-20 million to implement. The new regulations are in response to the ongoing decline of the highly endangered whale. Organizations advocating for lobster fishermen said that the new regulations go too far, citing a lack of evidence the lobster fishery causes any deliterious impact on right whales. The Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation called on state and federal authorities to “do all they can to change the decision” on the new right whale rules. Conservation organizations also criticized the rules, saying they didn’t go far enough to protect right whales.