lobster

With a proposal included in a federal government spending package, Maine is on track to receive several million dollars later this year for new gear and research aimed at reducing the risks to endangered right whales.

Maine's lobster fishery will have much longer to comply with federal rules aimed at reducing the risks to the endangered North Atlantic right whale population, if a government spending bill clears the U.S. Congress this week.

The proposal would ban grocery chain Whole Foods — which recently paused sales of Maine lobster over concerns about the industry's threat to endangered right whales — from participating in two state tax programs.

The menu choice unleased an array of critiques, both from sustainability experts who say the Maine lobster fishery poses too high a risk to endangered right whales, and from members of the Maine delegation who believe federal regulations are overly burdensome.

The Marine Stewardship Council suspended the fishery's certification last week, only months after the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program red-listed the lobster because of risks to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

A district court judge in Washington D.C. has granted a two-year extension for the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue a new rule aimed at reducing right whale deaths from entanglements in lobster gear.

A second major seafood watchdog group has pulled its support for Maine's lobster fishery over concerns that it's harming endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Several hundred people attended a virtual meeting Tuesday evening, which NOAA officials billed as a forum to collect feedback from fishermen about possible trap limits and more seasonal closures and gear changes.

The sustainable seafood program said earlier this week that lobster fishing gear poses a threat to the endangered right whale population. But Gov. Janet Mills and Maine's congressional delegation believe the designation is irresponsible.

In its announcement, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program says a review of scientific data shows current management measures don't go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the North Atlantic right whale.