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Golden Asks NOAA Fisheries to Postpone New Right Whale Management Proposals, Challenges Data Behind Potential New Restrictions on Maine Lobstermen

April 23, 2019

NOAA Fisheries task force responsible for new rules on lobstermen may rely on inaccurate data, fails to consider impacts of Canadian fisheries

LEWISTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) raised serious concerns today about the potential harm inflicted on Maine lobstermen from new regulations proposed by the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT) intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Taking issue with the tool being used to determine the health of the right whale population, Golden urged leaders at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reevaluate their approach and delay its rulemaking.

"Given the importance of the lobster fishery to Maine's economy, I am deeply troubled by the manner in which the TRT intends to carry out its goal of reducing right whale mortalities by sixty to eighty percent and the impact its actions may have on the future viability of our lobster fleet," wrote Golden. "I find it difficult to understand how a comprehensive strategy to protect an endangered species can be developed and agreed upon when the management tool relies on outdated inputs and was only made available days before the TRT meeting… I encourage NOAA Fisheries and the TRT to postpone its rulemaking so that it can develop an improved risk assessment tool that has the support of impacted stakeholders."

Later today, the TRT is meeting in Providence, RI to discuss potential gear restrictions, area closures, and other regulations that could significantly impact Maine's lobster industry. NOAA Fisheries is seeking to reduce right whale mortalities by sixty to eighty percent. While the new regulations have the goal of reducing right whale deaths, the forthcoming rules will be based on the use of TRT's new ‘risk assessment tool.' In his letter, Golden challenged the assumptions and data used to create the tool, including the lack of public input, lack of proper vetting, and inability to account for present-day distributional shift of right whales.

Golden also noted that the TRT's approach does not account for Canada's role in right whale deaths. Over the past two years, 12 of the 20 confirmed stranded right whales were found in Canadian waters, where Canadian fishermen and lobstermen are not subject to the same whale protection measures.

You can read Golden's full letter here.