September 26, 2022 — The men and women who harvest Maine lobster say new restrictions on fishing, combined with the so-called “red listing” of lobster by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, are a threat to their livelihoods, and the economy of coastal Maine.
Both the listing and fishing regulations are part of the ongoing efforts to protect the endangered right whale. Fishermen, however, say those steps are misdirected, because they are not to blame for the decline of the right whale.
“I truly believe the lobstermen have done everything we’ve been asked by National Marine Fisheries and the DMR [Maine Department of Marine Resources],” said Gerry Cushman, who has been lobstering in Port Clyde for 38 years.
“We’re not the bad guys here,” he said. “You ask us to do it, we do it. So why are you putting us on the red list?”
The Seafood Watch listing is recommending consumers not buy American lobster from either the U.S. or Canada. Maine is the primary producer of that lobster for the U.S. Cushman said he believes Seafood Watch has taken the action against Maine fishermen to pressure them to stop fighting proposed regulations in court.
“Because we challenged the science. We have that right to be able to challenge science. We have a lot of knowledge, and that’s why we challenge it. But to put us on the red list is a kind of bullying,” he said.
Steve Train, a lobsterman from Long Island in Casco Bay, echoed those points, saying Maine fishermen have followed all the whale protection rules, even though they have also been challenging them in court.