October 17, 2019 — Maine fishery regulators are unveiling a new right whale protection plan they feel will satisfy federal requirements while also preserving the state’s lobster fishery.
A federal team has called for a reduction of the vertical lobster trap lines in the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to the whales, which number about 400. Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says his department’s new proposal would remove 25 percent of the lines beyond an exemption line for inshore fishermen.