Maine Department of Marine Resources

Carl Wilson is a former lead lobster biologist at the Maine Department of Marine Resources who has headed the agency's marine science division for the past decade.

Pat Keliher, the outgoing commissioner of Maine's Department of Marine Resources, said Tuesday that the tariffs could trigger major cuts in what lobstermen are paid for their catch.

Scallop fishing will be halted this Sunday in Cobscook Bay along with Whiting and Denny's Bay, Upper Machias and Little Machias Bays and Upper Western Bay.

This summer, the state of Maine launched a research program to learn more about the whereabouts of North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of Maine. The findings could be critical for the future of the state's lobster industry — and in the race to preserve the critically endangered population.

By volume, fishermen harvested nearly 94 million pounds of lobster in 2023, the lowest in 15 years.

More than $17 million in federal funds will be used to deploy additional passive acoustic monitors and conduct aerial surveys in an effort to spot right whales in the Gulf of Maine. State officials hope to the use the newly gathered data to advocate for Maine's fishing industry.

State officials see the work as a way to get more Maine feedback into the hands of federal regulators, who are looking for ways to further reduce the risk of entanglement and injury to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The population dip comes faster than fisheries managers anticipated and will eventually trigger changes for fishermen to preserve the spawning stock.

State lawmakers are considering a new, million-dollar fund to help Maine lobstermen test fishing gear that's intended to minimize interactions with right whales.

A handful of state Republicans want Maine to claim jurisdiction over a larger swath of coastal waters, in attempt to alleviate federal regulatory pressures on the state's lobster fishery. But state officials and the leading group representing Maine lobstermen say the proposal could make things worse.