September 26, 2022 — The timeline for how fast federal fishery regulators should come up with new rules to protect the endangered right whale is the latest dispute in years of courtroom battles that could decide the future of Maine’s lobster fleet.
Both the conservation groups that sued the federal government for not safeguarding the whales and the federal agency that oversees the fishing industry recently proposed their visions for the pace of rulemaking.
Predictably, the timelines are vastly different.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the government agency that has been sued for not properly protecting whales, asked the court on Sept. 19 if it could have until December 2024 to come up with new regulations to bring them in line with the Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection acts.
Addressing the deficiencies will require a scientific analysis, public engagement and major advances in fishing technology, wrote Todd Kim, a U.S. assistant attorney general.
That 26-month timeline is “eminently reasonable” and necessary to develop and implement solid rules to protect right whales, argued Kim.