July 24, 2025 — A coalition of Maine lobster fishing groups, along with Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, are calling on Congress to extend a right whale regulatory moratorium for another ten years.
The moratorium, championed by Maine’s entire congressional delegation and slipped into a last-minute budget bill during the final days of 2022, prohibited the federal government from implementing new restrictions on the lobster fishery that are intended to protect North Atlantic right whales.
The regulatory pause is set to lift at the end of 2028. But Golden, who represents Maine’s second congressional district, said Tuesday he believes the moratorium should be extended until 2035.
Last summer, the state of Maine started conducting its own research to study the presence of right whales in the Gulf of Maine. State officials have said they want their data, which takes some time to put together, to inform the federal government’s new regulations.