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Golden Introduces Amendment to Block Regulations on Maine Lobstermen, Demands Rigorous Review

June 19, 2019

Pointing to a lack of evidence showing proposed regulations on Maine lobstermen will help right whales, Golden says NOAA data tool must be peer-reviewed before it can be used to create rules

WASHINGTON — As lobstermen across the state grapple with the potential impacts of reducing their vertical lines by as much as 50 percent, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) introduced an amendment to effectively block the proposed reductions from implementation. Golden's measure, cosponsored by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01), would prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from using a data tool it has created to enforce new regulations on lobstermen since that tool has not been subjected to scientific peer-review.

"The federal government is asking Maine lobstermen to make huge sacrifices without clear evidence that those sacrifices will have any positive impact on right whales," said Congressman Golden. "I've joined lobstermen to voice our concerns and now it's time for action. It's important to help the right whale, but there's no conclusive proof that right whales are getting entangled in Maine waters. NOAA needs to use sound science and reliable data to make its policies and that can't happen without peer-review. My amendment blocks the use of NOAA's data tool — and the resulting regulations — until the data tool is subjected to peer-review."

"Maine fisheries have been engaged in monitoring and protecting right whales for years, as we should be, but I have concerns about the disproportionate effect the new regulations would have on smaller, shore-adjacent fishermen, especially given lack of data about where the right whales actually are," said Congresswoman Pingree. "Our state has a huge lobster industry that has already done a lot on their own. We need federal protections to ensure fisheries in other states and countries are making an equal effort and that it doesn't fall to Maine to shoulder the entire responsibility to this important issue."

In April, NOAA's Take Reduction Team announced a plan to reduce whale deaths by at least percent by forcing lobstermen in Maine to reduce the amount of vertical lines they are allowed to have in the water. The plan relies on data and projections from NOAA's Risk Assessment Tool. Golden has raised serious concerns with the Risk Assessment Tool. Golden and Pingree, along with their colleagues in the Maine delegation, and the Maine Department of Marine Resources have pointed out numerous shortcomings that make peer-review necessary, including:

  • An alarmingly short amount of time for stakeholders to review the tool before being asked to come to a decision;
  • The unreasonably quick timeline NOAA used to create the tool, not allowing for the consideration and deliberation necessary for decisions of this magnitude;
  • The tool's reliance on a stakeholder survey that was not reviewed by a social scientist;
  • The fact that much of the tool's habitat data comes from the mid-Atlantic region, not the Gulf of Maine;
  • The habitat data not accounting for the changing distribution patterns of right whales in New England after 2010;
  • The tool's inconsistent application of levels of risk with corresponding levels of fishing gear and whale presence. While areas with high numbers of whales and minimal fishing gear have low risk, areas with low numbers of whales and higher amounts of fishing gear are determined to have high levels of risk; and
  • The tool's inadequate accounting of the impact of Canadian fisheries on whale injuries and deaths.

Golden's provision would amend the appropriations legislation that funds the Department of Commerce to prevent the use of any funds "to utilize a right whale status and risk reduction decision support tool" for Fiscal Year 2020. The measure would functionally block the restrictions on trap-rope for lobstermen until after the Risk Assessment Tool is further reviewed.

Congressman Golden has been working with IAMAW Local 207, the Maine Lobstermen's Association, Maine Department of Marine Resources, and other stakeholders to navigate the implications of the proposed regulations.