Lobster Industry: “Fighting for
Our Lives”
by MLA Staff
Image courtesy Maine Lobstermen’s Association.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) has launched a campaign to raise $500,000 to defend Maine’s lobster industry against charges that it harms the endangered North Atlantic right whale population.
“The MLA has launched a campaign to raise $500,000 to save Maine’s lobster industry,” MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said.
In early April, Judge James Boasberg of the Federal District Court for Washington D.C. ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in permitting the lobster fishery.
The judge’s opinion said that “Congress enacted the ESA in 1973 to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.”
Whale entanglement data collected by NMFS, however, shows that no right whale deaths or serious injuries have ever been documented in Maine lobster gear. This is in contrast to the death of 10 right whales in Canada last year.
“Maine lobstermen have not broken any laws,” said McCarron. “For nearly a quarter of a century they have followed every law and fishery management regulation, including major changes to their gear and fishing practices to save right whales.”
Nevertheless, the court’s decision will directly impact Maine lobstermen and the communities that depend on them.
The MLA is an intervener in the court case and is the only organization in Maine that has been granted standing to participate in the case.
“This case could lead to closure of the world’s most sustainable fishery and we cannot let that happen,” she said. “Right whales are not dying in Maine lobster gear. Lobstermen have done everything they have been asked to protect right whales and remain committed to doing their part to save the species.”
The situation is also urgent for Maine’s lobster fishing families and also for everyone in Maine who values the state’s cultural heritage and the economic impact tourism brings to the state, said Amy Lent, executive director of the Maine Maritime Museum.
An adverse decision would have a ripple effect on the thousands of businesses and communities that depend on lobstermen.
“This could mean the end of the lobstering tradition for our children,” said McCarron. “We are fighting for our lives right now, and we are prepared to appeal if it comes to that.”
The MLA is calling on anyone who cares about Maine lobster to join together to save Maine’s lobster industry by making a donating to the Legal Defense Fund.
Contributions may be made on the MLA web site (www.mainelobstermen.org), via phone 207-967-4555, or by mailing checks made out to “MLA Legal Defense Fund”, mailed to MLA, 2 Storer St., Suite 203, Kennebunk, ME 04043.
Background
Four environmental groups – the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Humane Society of the United States and Conservation Law Foundation – sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2018, arguing that the agency was not fulfilling its legal mandate to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The case was assigned to Judge James Boasberg of the Federal District Court for Washington D.C.
The case proceeded in two phases. Phase 1 would determine if NMFS violated the law, and if necessary, Phase 2 would decide on a remedy so that the American lobster fishery can continue to operate in compliance with the ESA.
On April 9, the judge ruled that NMFS had violated the Endangered Species Act, saying that failure to include an incidental take statement in its 2014 biological opinion, after finding that the lobster fishery had the potential to harm the North Atlantic right whale at more than three times the sustainable rate, “is about as straightforward a violation of the ESA as they come.”
During phase two, now underway, the judge will evaluate the need for an interim solution or “remedy” to mitigate the potential risk that lobster gear poses to right whales and will hear the fishing industry’s perspective for the first time.
As an intervener of right with full standing in the case, the MLA will correct significant factual errors in the NGOs’ allegations that right whales are being seriously harmed by entanglement in U.S. lobster gear. Among other things, MLA will present the facts on the outsized role of Canada in right whale deaths over the last five years. All 10 right whale deaths in 2019 were attributed to Canada.
Although NMFS, and not lobstermen, broke the law, the NGOs are expected to press for implementation of an administratively simple remedy, such as a closure, with far-reaching consequences for lobstermen and the businesses and communities that depend on it. Such a remedy would remain in force until NMFS completes an updated biological opinion as required under the ESA. According to NMFS, the draft biological opinion is expected to be released this summer but could take up to a year to implement.
It’s expected that the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of NMFS, along with the MLA and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, will file their responses in June 15.
The MLA’s defense fund has received numerous donations, including $10,000 from Brooks Trap Mill, which challenged other businesses to match their donation. Alec Phippen challenged offshore lobstermen to match his $5,000 donation. Jay Smith challenged lobstermen to match his $1,000 donation. Lee and Darcie Watkinson are donating the value of 10 lobsters after every haul-through. Cody Nunan dropped off $5,300 donated by Cape Porpoise lobstermen; he and Eric Emmons challenged all Maine harbors to donate. The York Lobstermen’s Association donated $5,000. The Downeast Lobstermen’s Association donated $1,500. Numerous other individuals and groups have made donations to the defense fund, ranging from under $100 to over $5,000.