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Far-left activists are capitalizing on the recent death of an endangered whale to jeopardize the future of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery.
endangered species Right whale recently washed ashore Maine lobster fishing gear gets tangled on Martha’s Vineyard. Although this is the first recorded right whale death associated with our nation’s fisheries, so-called environmentalists are seizing the opportunity to call for consumer boycotts and new regulations that threaten marine communities that rely on Maine lobsters. I’m looking for it.
Fishermen are the true stewards of the sea. But environmentalists in cubicles are scapegoating us for the whale’s death and demanding that regulators retaliate against us for the recent uproar.
People fishing for recently caught lobster off the coast of Maine. (Maine Lobsterman Association/Marketing Associate)
These organizations have a poor grasp of the facts and no knowledge of our industry. Their agitation puts our fishing industry and the worker communities that depend on it at risk.
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Organizations such as the National Resources Defense Council and the Conservation Law Foundation are using the incident to pressure regulators to impose new rules. These organizations are restless and can achieve some success. A self-proclaimed watchdog group called Seafood Watch has convinced Whole Foods to stop stocking Maine lobster products in late 2022.
Importantly, regulators acknowledge that data on right whale entanglements and Maine’s lobster fishery are uncertain at best. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion on the Interaction of Right Whales with Our Fisheries frankly acknowledges this point, and many of the regulations binding our industry are based on speculation. says.
“Because data is limited, we are often forced to make assumptions to overcome limitations. [sic] This is our knowledge,” the opinion states.
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This is not surprising. Many whale deaths go undetected. Even when whale deaths are identified, it is often impossible to determine the cause of death due to decomposition.
Once entanglements are documented, they can rarely be traced back to a specific country or type of gear. And in the rare instances where right whale entanglements can be traced, the numbers show that Canadian fishermen are disproportionately responsible.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit cited all of these facts in blocking a plan to regulate Maine’s lobster fishery in 2023.
You’d think environmental NGOs would make more modest claims, given the uncertainty of the data and the steps lobstermen are taking to protect whales. However, they are so hostile to fishermen and the facts are so widespread that many NEFSA members doubt their true motives.
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These groups know very little about data and even less about lobsters. The industry solutions they propose demonstrate the alarming distance between Brahmin “environmental activists” and workers.
For example, the Conservation Law Foundation has long touted the benefits of rope straps (an umbrella term for several types of technology).
Rope strap technology may someday become safe and commercially viable, but as of this writing, I don’t know of a single lobsterman who can afford to make the transition.
Ropeless traps also come with an unacceptably high failure rate. I can say with certainty that the vast majority of Maine lobstermen oppose such a transition as a simple matter.
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A rope-less trap regime would drive most lobster fishermen out of the fishery and clear the water for corporate takeover. I don’t know if these so-called environmentalists support corporatizing the lobster fishery, but that’s the future they have in their hands.
These entities have no connection to our coastal communities, except perhaps if they own vacation homes here. That shows it.
On our side, lobstermen have removed over 45,000 miles of line from the water. All of our fishing gear is marked to ensure that any entanglements originate from our fishing operations. And deploy a weak rope with a weak link device to remove the tangle from the head.
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With these measures, tangles almost never occur. Right Whale #5120 is his second entanglement and first fatality recorded in connection with our fishery since 2004.
Maine’s lobster fishery is a model of sustainability. Our data-driven, conservation-minded practices have created an environmental and economic miracle. Wild lobster stocks are healthy and robust, and the lobster supply chain generates $1 billion for the state’s economy and supports thousands of jobs. we know what we’re doing.
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