The Maine Wire
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending News
  • Portland Man Fatally Stabs Himself after Police Respond to Burglary Attempt
  • Nearly Half Of Homeschool Parents Cite ‘Liberal’ Public Schools As Motivating Factor: POLL
  • Offshore Wind Making Everything More Expensive, From Lobsters To Electricity: FRANK LASSEE
  • House Republicans Launch Probe into Biden Energy Secretary’s Disasterous Taxpayer-Funded EV Road Trip
  • IRS Grants Tax Extension to Feb. 15 for Mainers Affected by Hurricane Lee
  • Portland City Council to Consider $134,000 150-Bed Expansion to Homeless Shelter by Emergency Declaration
  • Dangerous Company: Sam Patten’s Memoir Is a Riveting Insight Into 25 Years of American Foreign Policy
  • New Maine CDC Director Recommends Masks and Latest COVID Booster for Everybody Ages 6 months and Older
Facebook Twitter Instagram
The Maine Wire
Login
Tuesday, September 26
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
The Maine Wire
Home » News » Maine’s lobster industry is under siege
News

Maine’s lobster industry is under siege

Sherm HutchinsBy Sherm HutchinsSeptember 9, 2021Updated:September 9, 2021No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

Maine’s lobstermen and women are under attack by the Biden Administration after a recent set of rule changes restricting seasonal lobster fishing in 950 square miles of federal waters off Maine’s coast. This is an inflexible and poorly considered attempt to protect the North Atlantic right whale population.

The series of rule changes are the most heavy-handed in a long line of attempts to undermine the lobster industry here in Maine. If our fisheries are not protected, and if these rules are not reversed, Maine’s fishermen and women will not recover. 

Members of my family contribute to the lobster industry that generated over half a billion dollars for our state in 2020. I can attest to their frustration, which is shared by other lobstermen and women, to the extremity of these recent changes by the Biden administration.

I can personally attest to how extreme and destructive these recent changes by the Biden administration are.

The 950 square miles, from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay, that will be off-limits for fishermen between the months of October and January, will have a major impact for off-shore lobster fishing and will displace countless fishermen, and overcrowd areas outside the restricted zone.

In addition to this rule, gear marking changes will require lobstermen to purchase new equipment, which is not only burdensome, but costly. This comes after Maine took proactive measures to fill data gaps by implementing state specific gear-marking regulations. Measures that mean fishermen who previously modified gear will need to go out and buy it all again. 

Lobstermen cannot propose alternative and more cost effective measures, and these actions undermine the trust between the industry and regulators necessary for sustainable fisheries. This is government’s “it’s my way or the highway” mentality—this is government knowing best. 

For decades, lobstermen and Maine fisheries have been making line reductions and gear improvements. We made reductions in 1997 and 2007. As a result, the U.S. lobster fisheries have reduced right whale entanglements in American lobster gear by over 90%. Now, this new series of rules calls for an increase in reduction in gear, which puts the safety of fellow lobstermen and women at great risk.

As I said before, these rules come from an attempt to protect the North Atlantic right whale population; however, NOAA is attempting to prevent entanglements and deaths of right whales that are not occurring in Maine waters. 

The Biden Administration, and NOAA, are set on protecting the right whale population even those there is no evidence to support their extreme measures. This administration is pinning the blame on our lobster industry rather than confronting the Canadian government who has taken zero action to address concerns regarding the large number of right whale death in Canadian waters over the last five years.  

These set of rules are devoid of reality and common sense. The Biden administration is more concerned with looking like he is doing something, no matter how unsupported the policy, than considering how this action will endanger Maine’s lobster industry. 

Patrice McCarron, Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, has come out against these rule changes and stated that these come without the input from Maine lobstermen. If government will not listen to the men and women who make up this industry, who are they accountable to? 

Elections have consequences and this is one of them.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Commentary environmental regulations Featured federal regulations Joe Biden lobster lobster industry Maine lobster National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Opinion president joe biden regulations
Previous ArticleMills administration throwing money at hospitals, nursing homes in attempt to overcome workforce shortages
Next Article Maine delays enforcement of healthcare worker vaccine mandate but offers no testing alternative
Sherm Hutchins

Rep. Sherm Hutchins represents District 131 in the Maine House of Representatives.

Related Posts

Portland Man Fatally Stabs Himself after Police Respond to Burglary Attempt

September 26, 2023

Nearly Half Of Homeschool Parents Cite ‘Liberal’ Public Schools As Motivating Factor: POLL

September 26, 2023

Offshore Wind Making Everything More Expensive, From Lobsters To Electricity: FRANK LASSEE

September 26, 2023

Leave A Reply

Recent News

Portland Man Fatally Stabs Himself after Police Respond to Burglary Attempt

September 26, 2023

Nearly Half Of Homeschool Parents Cite ‘Liberal’ Public Schools As Motivating Factor: POLL

September 26, 2023

House Republicans Launch Probe into Biden Energy Secretary’s Disasterous Taxpayer-Funded EV Road Trip

September 26, 2023

IRS Grants Tax Extension to Feb. 15 for Mainers Affected by Hurricane Lee

September 26, 2023

Portland City Council to Consider $134,000 150-Bed Expansion to Homeless Shelter by Emergency Declaration

September 26, 2023
Newsletter

News

  • News
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • Opinion & Commentary
  • Media Watch
  • Education
  • Media

Maine Wire

  • About the Maine Wire
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Commentary
  • Complaints
  • Maine Policy Institute

Resources

  • Maine Legislature
  • Legislation Finder
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Maine Wire TV

Facebook Twitter Instagram Steam RSS
  • Post Office Box 7829, Portland, Maine 04112

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Sign In or Register

Welcome Back!

Login below or Register Now.

Lost password?

Register Now!

Already registered? Login.

A password will be e-mailed to you.