September 12, 2022 — A federal judge has denied a request from fishing groups that sought to challenge new fishing rules designed to protect rare whales.
Judge rules against lobstermen, says federal rules protecting right whales don’t overreach
September 9, 2022 — A US District Court judge in Washington, D.C., handed a victory Thursday to environmental groups and rejected a challenge to federal rules to protect North Atlantic right whales that was brought by New England lobstermen, who argued the requirements go too far and are based on flawed data, court records show.
The ruling prompted sharp reactions from both sides of the issue.
Maine Governor Janet Mills, criticized the judge’s decision as being “so out of touch with reality.”
“The National Marine Fisheries Service has consistently interpreted the data in the most conservative way possible, without accounting for the impact of ship strikes on whales and whale entanglements in Canadian snow crab gear, putting all of the burden for right whale protection squarely on the shoulders of Maine’s lobster fishery,” Mills said in a statement.
“The good news today is that the court upheld the agency’s science,” Davenport said in an interview. “Of course, from the conservation point of view, the science has never really been in dispute. The question has been what’s the agency doing about the science. And our position has been that it’s not going far enough fast enough to meet the conservation crisis that the right whale is in.”
Lobstermen had argued that a report issued last year by the National Marine Fisheries Service that set new goals for reducing deaths of North Atlantic right whales “overstates the risks lobstering poses to the whale and consequently overregulates the industry,” according to court documents.
“Because [federal officials] overstated their industry’s risk to right whales, they contend, the Rule imposes some needless and draconian risk-reduction measures — e.g., restrictions on the number of vertical fishing lines in certain areas, seasonal closures, and the requirement that fishing lines contain weak links that whales can break free from,” Judge James E. Boasberg wrote.
Retailers pull lobster from menus after ‘red list’ warning
September 9, 2022 — Some retailers are taking lobster off the menu after an assessment from an influential conservation group that the harvest of the seafood poses too much of a risk to rare whales and should be avoided.
The organization, based at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, said in a report that the fishing industry is a danger to North Atlantic right whales because “current management measures do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the species.”
housands of businesses use Seafood Watch’s recommendations to inform seafood buying decisions, and many have pledged to avoid any items that appear on the red list. A spokesperson for Blue Apron, the New York meal kit retailer, said the company stopped offering a seasonal lobster box prior to the report, and all of the seafood it is currently using follows Seafood Watch’s guidelines. HelloFresh, the Germany-based meal kit company that is the largest such company operating in the U.S., also pledged shortly after the announcement to stop selling lobster.
MAINE: Maine politicians blast Seafood Watch rating that tells consumers to avoid eating lobster
September 8, 2022 — California-based Seafood Watch this week issued a recommendation to avoid Maine lobster, drawing the ire of Maine politicians.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch gave a red rating to the U.S. and Canadian lobster industries, saying they aren’t doing enough to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The whale is endangered and U.S. federal regulators have imposed new fishing gear guidelines to try to help protect the species.
A red rating from Seafood Watch recommends that consumers “take a pass on these for now,” and the group said in a statement that “Canadian and U.S. management measures do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery” of the whales.
Seafood Watch is a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium that describes itself as “working directly with businesses and governments around the world — increasing both the market demand for, and a reliable supply of, sustainable seafood.”
MAINE: Lobstermen and lobster retailers respond to a report red listing Maine lobster
September 8, 2022 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has a Seafood Watch program that rates U.S. and Canadian fisheries on their sustainability. The list seeks to protect endangered species and prevent overfishing.
The watchdog group just red listed American lobster fisheries in Maine, advising consumers, retailers and restaurants to avoid purchasing lobster from Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.
The report claims that lobster gear poses a risk to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. It’s an assessment that lobstermen say is unfair and inaccurate. Entanglements are the leading cause of death for right whales but no deaths have been linked to Maine lobster gear and the gear hasn’t caused an entanglement in over a decade.
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