WORKING WATERFRONT • November 11, 2026
On Thursday, November 5, NOAA Fisheries published an announcement that upcoming Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT) meetings would be delayed until March 2027. The delay comes with the intentionof allowing more time for new science and data to move through the scientific peer review process. These updates to a complicated process will likely result in important and positive implications for Maine’s lobster fishery. This announcement is a welcome sign to Maine industry members that NOAA Fisheries intends to use the best available science and science-backed modeling to determine the risk that U.S. fishing gear poses to the North Atlantic right whale.