Lobster Industry Input Sought
On Whale Entanglement
Reduction Strategies

The Maine Department of Marine Resources will be combining public comment periods with the regularly scheduled meetings of the Lobster Advisory Council and the lobster Zone Council Meetings. The DMR will attempt to have these meetings scheduled in June. The goal is to have a final group of proposals to present to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) which will be making a final decision this fall regarding what changes to fishing gear will be required.

These changes to fishing gear are intended to meet the demands of a lawsuit against the NMFS.

That suit claims the NMFS has not done enough to protect the northern right whale under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Recent science has claimed that threats to the northern right whale must be reduced by about 50%.

The DMR is asking fishermen for input regarding fishing gear, fishing practices, experience and observation of the interaction of whales and fishing gear that may contribute to a more acceptable solution to any gear modifications required.

Lobster advisory council meetings and lobster Zone Council meetings will be posted on the DMR website mainedmr.gov homepage under Meetings. At the bottom of that homepage under Connect With Us there are notification options. Notices and communication are also available at this publication’s website:fishermenvoice.com.