February 25, 2021 — Lobster fishermen are worried that federal regulations, proposed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglement in fishing gear, could put the industry out of business.
Conservationists worry the whale won’t survive much longer, given increased concerns about gear entanglement and ship strikes.
The National Marine Fisheries Service — an agency that’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is responsible for overseeing fishing in federal waters — is in the midst of holding hearings on proposed modifications to the federal government’s “Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”
Proposed changes aim to reduce entanglement in trap and pot fisheries for right whales, as well as humpback and finback whales, in order to reduce death and serious injury in accordance with two federal fishery laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.