PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 9, 2022
A federal judge on Thursday shot down a challenge by lobstering groups to federal rules intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg rejected a bid by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association and the state of Maine to block federal regulators from imposing new limits on where and how lobstermen can fish in federal waters. “It has become crystal clear that (the court doesn’t) grasp the devastating impacts their decisions will have on the Maine lobster industry, (or on) our coastal communities and the state of Maine,” the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said in a statement.