MAINE PUBLIC • March 8, 2022
As Maine's lobstermen fight national conservation groups over federal gear rules and fishery closures intended to protect endangered whales, they have found fierce allies among the state's political leaders. That's left some local advocates for the whales feeling sidelined by the powerful industry. "It is really frustrating to be a small voice against a massive wave of the lobster industry. It's difficult to be heard in those circumstances, and it's difficult to be taken seriously," said Sean Todd, a whale biologist and director of Allied Whale, a research group at Bar Harbor's College of the Atlantic, whose mission includes rescuing injured marine mammals.