The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team will meet next month to consider new rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The rules could include costly gear changes for lobster harvesters, whose trap-lines can entangle the whales. They could also affect where and when lobster harvesters can set traps.
Maine's Department of Marine Resources will hold community meetings to provide information and gather input from people the rules are likely to affect. Those meetings will take place April 8 in South Portland, April 9 in Rockland and April 10 in Ellsworth.
State regulators are seeking solutions that protect the whales and the lobster industry.