Lawmakers consider $30 million relief fund for Maine lobstermen facing new restrictions

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2022

Maine lawmakers are considering a bill that would establish a $30 million fund to help offset the financial impacts of new regulations on the lobster industry and other commercial fishermen. As written, the bill would provide relief money via the state’s general fund. Last year, the National Marine Fisheries Service released a 10-year plan to help protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from deadly entanglements in fishing gear. But Maine lobstermen have said the rules won’t protect whales and will put their livelihoods at risk.