Gannets diving in a flurry on herring. Gannets can dive from 100' at up to 60 MPH. Their eyes are forward on their heads enough to give them binocular vision. An important adaptation from that height and speed on small fish. With the steep herring quota cuts in place, there will be no flurry of fishing for the herring fleet. ©Joel Woods photo.
Lobster Industry Wrestles with Whale Issue
by Laurie Schreiber
The lobster industry continues to wrestle with federal regulations designed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale but expected to severely impact the fishery.
The issue is front and center for the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said during the MLA’s annual meeting, March 6 at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum.
“We’re asked all the time, ‘Who’s fighting for us?’” she said. “We are. The MLA is.”
The MLA has been engaged in the management, science, regulatory, policy and legal process to ensure the lobster industry has a voice in new federal regulations expected to impact the fishery, she said. In addition, the MLA is the only entity in Maine that has standing in a court case filed by environmental groups against the federal government, she noted.
The association has rejected a federal plan to reduce the risk of entanglement by North Atlantic right whales in lobster fishing gear by 60%. The strategy includes removing half the number of lobster trap endlines in the water and using weak rope in the top of remaining endlines, which are the vertical lines that connect lobster traps on the ocean bottom with a buoy at the sea surface. The association also rejected the state’s modified plan that hinges on an existing nearshore exemption area.
“We believe management needs to be based on sound science and use the best available data,” she said. “We believe saving right whales must be a shared responsibility by all who have a potential to harm them. Maine will do its part, but the lobster fishery alone can’t solve this problem. Ten whales died in Canada last year. We couldn’t have solved that.”
She added, “For all of you lobstermen, ‘no’ is not an option, because under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), we will have to take measures.”
