February 10, 2022 — A popular seafood ranking guide is considering “red listing” American lobster and other New England fisheries for the danger they pose to endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” list is used by grocery stores and restaurants like Whole Foods, Red Lobster and Aramark to inform their purchases.
But Massachusetts lobstermen are pushing back on the description of their industry as unsustainable.
“The [Massachusetts] lobster fishery is doing more than any other region,” said Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni. “We are currently under a three-month closure for the protection of right whales. No other state has 9,000 square miles closed to lobster vertical lines.”
Casoni also pointed to the local industry’s early adoption of weaker ropes that can break if a whale becomes entangled.
“When I saw this, I was quite concerned where they were lumping in all the states, all the regions in the United States, to have the American lobster listed as a red choice,” Casoni said. She said her group plans to submit comments to Seafood Watch challenging the designation.