PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 20, 2025
The Sept. 6, 2022 Monterey Aquarium/Seafood Watch American Lobster Report issued a “Red” rating and recommend avoiding trapped lobsters from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England due to insufficient measures to reduce North Atlantic right whale “entanglements.” However, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data does not support the accusation. The majority of North Atlantic right whale deaths and entanglements occur outside U.S. lobster fishing areas. Meanwhile, nongovernmental organizations like Seafood Watch are ignoring other major factors and operations, like offshore wind energy development, that have a much larger impact on North Atlantic right whales and their food chain. ~ Leo LaRosa of Rose Solutions Inc., Gloucester, Massachusetts