Whale Community Meetings Scheduled for April 8, 9, and 10 Cancelled

My intention for these meetings was to gather information from industry to inform state-specific plans for the Take Reduction Team (TRT) to consider during its April 23-26 meetings, and to discuss options to advance at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting on April 29th. However, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) continues to be unclear about the setting of a risk reduction target while introducing new methodologies and analyses that have the potential to significantly impact the content of the TRT and ASMFC discussions and any Maine-specific plans.

This is very alarming given the short timeline before the upcoming meetings and the potential for these last-minute analyses to propose modifications to the industry which could result in large-scale changes.

The State of Maine is willing to engage with NMFS to find solutions that protect North Atlantic right whales, but not in ways that would cause serious economic harm to the industry and the State. DMR will attend both the TRT meeting and the ASMFC Lobster Management Board Meeting to gather all necessary information about the target and possible options and will reschedule these industry meetings in the near future.

I value the industry’s time and ideas on these critical issues. My goal will be to solicit your ideas before NMFS takes final action, but we do not want to hold a meeting without all the information necessary to make informed decisions and capitalize on your knowledge of the fishery.

– Patrick Keliher Commissioner, Maine Department of Marine Resources