December 3, 2021 — Lobster harvesters were forced to remove their gear from a large section of the Gulf of Maine this week. Though their traps may no longer be in the water, the industry is not giving up its fight.
The Maine Lobstering Union filed an emergency application last week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a lower court ruling and reopen the roughly 950-square-mile area, which is slated to be closed through January – and every subsequent October through January – in an effort to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
It’s the most recent development in a monthslong legal battle between members of the lobster industry, who say their livelihoods are at risk, and conservationists, who say the whales are headed for extinction.
Virginia Olsen, a lobsterwoman and a member of the union, said the group looks forward to continuing what it considers a fight to save the industry, and the families and communities that depend on it.