January 18, 2022 — The federal government has signaled its intention to nearly eliminate rope fishing for lobsters over 10 years, but the entire fishery may be closed even sooner than that, according to Pat Keliher, Maine Department of Marine Resources commissioner.
The reason: to save the endangered right whale.
Fishermen say there aren’t any right whales in the Gulf of Maine. The government not only says that there are, but recently announced they’re dying off even faster than previously thought.
“We think the threat of the closure of the fishery is increasingly significant,” Keliher said at a virtual Lobster Advisory Council Meeting on December 15.
He said the lobster industry faces multiple perils.