PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against Maine lobster fishermen who sought to block new fishing restrictions that are designed to protect rare whales.
The new rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off limits to lobster fishing from October to January.
That's to protect North Atlantic right whales, which are one of the rarest whales and number less than 340.
Members of Maine's lobster fishing industry asked the high court to block the new restrictions after an appeals court ruled that the closure was legal.
Justice Stephen Breyer rejected the appeal on Friday without comment.