The whales have won a big match with Prince Edward Island’s lobster industry in a case being closely monitored by Maine’s fishermen.
Government fisheries police told the island’s lobstermen to remove their traps for a two-week period, after wildlife officers discovered migrating right whales moving through the area.
With a worldwide population of just 380, officials said the whales are endangered and at risk of entangling with lobster gear.
They cited as evidence a juvenile whale dying off North Carolina earlier in the season after getting tangled in lobster pots.
Officials said that the two-week closure is part of standard practice to protect the species while interfering as little as possible with the lobster fishery.
Right whales are relatively slow swimmers, and spend the bulk of their time inshore, or close to the sea surface, making them particularly vulnerable to entanglement, the government said.
The two-week closure will be extended if the whales continue to populate the area.
The whale-vs.lobsters issue is a sore topic for Maine’s fishermen, who have called for a 10-year delay on more federal regulations designed to protect the marine mammals.
A recent study actually showed a resurgence in the whale population.
Let Canada be a warning, this is the type thing you get if you elect Democrats.
Canada is rapidly becoming worse than Cuba…
Canada has become an another satellite country of the former Soviet Union. Without Trump, we’ll be next.