Fighting for Maine's Lobstermen

Statement

Fighting for Maine's Lobstermen

When people think of our State, they almost always think first of lobsters. Yet Maine's lobstermen are facing difficult times with the high cost of fuel for their boats and costly new federal regulations that will require many of them, depending on the location of their traps, to replace their lines with sinking rope.

Many lobstermen believe that Maine's rocky bottom makes the use of sinking rope impractical. The regulations have a worthy goal of protecting large whales from entanglement, but are not well thought-out. Moreoever, the federal government proposed that the new rules go into effect in October at the peak of the season when lobster landings are at their highest.

Olympia and I wrote to the federal agency involved asking for a delay, and both of us made calls arguing the case for a delay put forth by the Maine Lobstermen Association. The good news is that the agency yesterday agreed to delay the rules until next April.

Source