December 12, 2022 — The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team ended a two-day virtual meeting on Friday, December 2 without reaching consensus on new recommendations aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The team—fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials from Maine to Florida—had been charged with advising the National Marine Fisheries Service on a new draft Environmental Impact Statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
The team was asked to develop and vote on a package of measures that would further reduce the risk of right whale mortality in the North Atlantic by about 90 percent. While the new measures would introduce changes up and down the U.S. East Coast, they would have hit Maine lobstermen particularly hard. Proposed restrictions would have included a 400-trap limit for all fishermen in Lobster Management Area 1 (which includes the entire coast of Maine), expanded the timeframes of existing closures, and introduced a 100 percent weak rope requirement, among other measures.
“It was pretty significant,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and a member of the team. “Which is why every member of the team from Maine voted against it.”