October 13, 2022 — Stonington lobsterman Dwight Staples’ 37-foot lobster boat provides the essentials for 10 people.
His wife, his three children and his stern man’s wife and their three children all rely on Staples to put food on the table and pay the bills. But he fears new federal regulations will put an end to his livelihood and the paychecks of thousands of other Mainers who rely on lobster to make a living.
“This year has been different for me and maybe it has for you as well,” he told a large crowd in Portland Wednesday. “This year it seems so much I have to get up and fight to go to work. With all these restrictions, regulations coming down the pike, it seems as though we’ve had to get up and fight each and every day.”
Staples addressed hundreds at a rally organized by the Maine Lobstering Union to oppose federal regulations on lobster gear and restrictions on fishing areas designed to protect endangered right whales.
Union Director Virginia Olsen and others who are fighting the new federal regulations called on Attorney General Aaron Frey Wednesday to file suit against the federal government, rather than serve as an intervenor.
“We need the state to step up and say what’s happening is wrong,” Olsen said.
In response, Frey released a statement outlining efforts the state has taken since at least 2014 to push back on federal regulations.