MAINE PUBLIC • December 15, 2025
A group of Maine lobstermen have worked out a plan to respond to endangered North Atlantic right whales in federal waters. In January 2025, an unusually large number of whales surprised fishermen and scientists when they showed up in the southern Gulf of Maine. Maine lobstermen who fish in those waters want to be better prepared if it happens again. About two dozen lobstermen turned up at the American Legion Hall in Kennebunkport on December 10. Fishermen in Lobster Zone Council G, which stretches from Eliot to Cape Elizabeth, decided their best option was to reduce the number of vertical ropes in the water, by removing one of two endlines attached to their trawl — a move which is usually against regulation. But in this case, enforcement officials made an exception.