November 22, 2022 — Maine’s leaders are welcoming a court-imposed two year delay of federal whale protection rules that are expected to impact the state’s lucrative lobster industry.
In a ruling issued last Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg said new fisheries rules aimed at protecting critically endangered North Atlantic right whales will be delayed until December 2024, to give the federal government additional time to design them.
The delay was welcomed news to Maine’s political leaders, who have argued the new rules would be devastating to the state’s storied lobster industry.