Maine's lobster industry wins against endangered right whale protections

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • December 30, 2022

If you're planning to splurge on a certain seafood for a New Year's dinner or if you've tried to buy it recently, you might already know lobster has been at the center of a high-stakes battle. It's pitted advocates for endangered whales against one of the nation's most valuable fisheries. Sen. Susan Collins said, “In the 25 years that I've been privileged to represent Maine in the United States Senate, I've never seen a worse case of regulatory overreach.” Environmentalists are livid. The Conservation Law Foundation, which sued under the Endangered Species Act to force the stronger protections, says delay proponents have, quote, "the blood of a magnificent endangered species on their hands." And Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity says the decision could put the right whale on an irreversible slide to extinction.