Maine lobstermen deal with another new rule, and it’s not about right whales

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 9, 2023

Maine lobstermen have gotten a six-year reprieve on some new regulations – designed to protect North Atlantic right whales – but there’s no exemption for new reporting requirements on what the lobster fishers catch. Until this year, only a fraction of them were required to report their catch, including details on when, where and how many lobsters were taken. The data went to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a coalition of 15 East Coast states that regulates fishing for more than two dozen species. But as of Jan. 1, all Maine lobstermen now have to report data on their harvests to the state and to the commission.