August 8, 2022 — Parties in a lobster industry lawsuit filed against federal regulators are urging a judge to make a decision in the case because its outcome affects a parallel case that the parties have to act on.
The federal judge considering this decision was the same who ruled last month that new regulations to protect endangered right whales do not go far enough, and violate both the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. In that case, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg asked the parties to propose remedies.
The lobster association’s case takes aim at newly enacted and proposed federal regulations to protect the whales, which the association says are invalid because they are based on flawed assumptions and calculations.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal defendants – as well as intervenors the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Lobstering Union and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association – all filed briefs this week asking Boasberg not to stay a decision on a lawsuit brought by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. The parties need to know the court’s opinion so they can develop proposed remedies that Boasberg ordered in the parallel lawsuit brought by conservation groups.