The Maine Lobstermen's Association says it will go all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, to prevent more federal restrictions aimed at protecting endangered right whales. The group's executive director, Patrice McCarron, says rules approved last May weren't based on good science, but the government has begun looking into more "draconian" measures for next year.
"The quote-unquote 'straw man' proposals that they've shown us have shown, if you were to close every federal fishery that interacts with right whales from Maine to Florida, you will not achieve a 90percent risk reduction. So, the stakes are very high," MaCarron says.
McCarron says the government is convening just one public hearing this month, when lobstermen from Maine can propose their own solutions for reducing the risk to right whales. McCarron says she's afraid if the courts don't help, the government's restrictions will drive some Maine lobstermen out of business.
