BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 14, 2022
Gov. Janet Mills said Friday that the state could consider pushing for changes to federal protections for whales in order to ease the regulatory burden on lobstermen. The state’s lobster industry is facing expected new regulations designed to safeguard the endangered right whale. Lobstermen say the potential rules unfairly target them and could devastate fishing communities up and down the coast. “Worse comes to worst, we’re going to propose an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to unclaw the hold that the federal court seems to have on the fishing industry right this minute,” she said Friday.