Golden, Maine fishermen push trade commission for fair fishing rules in Gray Zone

WASHINGTON — Ahead of two Maine fishermen’s testimonies to the International Trade Commission (ITC) today, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) submitted a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer calling for fairer fishing rules between Maine and Canadian fishermen in the Gray Zone — a 277 square-mile area of ocean near Machias Seal Island that is fished by both countries and remains one of America’s only contested maritime borders. 

The push comes as the ITC gathers stakeholder input from across industries to inform the White House and Congress on potential changes needed to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The trade deal, set to expire in 2036, requires the countries to explore a potential 16-year extension to preserve the arrangement until 2052. This review is mandated for July 2026. Golden voted against the USMCA in 2019, and is pushing for more parity between American and Canadian fishing regulations in the Gray Zone as a condition of any extension.

“The United States government should do everything in its power to ensure that our fishermen are not at a competitive disadvantage and deprived of economic opportunity,” Golden wrote in his letter to Greer. “Maine’s seafood harvesters have been awaiting a resolution to the Gray Zone for too long and at great consequence to their safety, their businesses, and the natural resources they depend on.” 

Golden has previously written to President Trump about the steeper regulations Maine fishermen face compared to their Canadian competitors in the Gray Zone. Some of these rule disparities include the lack of a maximum size limit for catchable lobster for Canadians; Canada’s refusal to follow Mainers’ practice of marking egg-bearing females as off-limits; the American-only requirement to use expensive, weaker fishing gear to prevent right-whale entanglements; and a months-longer season for scallop harvesting for Canadians.

Golden submitted his letter along with testimony from Virginia Olsen and Dustin Delano, two Maine harvesters who serve as the Political Director of the Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) and Chief Strategist of Policy and Operations for the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), respectively. 

Olsen and Swan’s Island fisherman and NEFSA board member Jason Joyce spoke today before the ITC, regarding the ways Canada’s less sustainable harvesting practices have harmed the fishery and Maine’s working waterfront.

“American fishermen have sacrificed more than most people will ever understand. They’ve rebuilt stocks, innovated gear, protected habitat, and carried the weight of conservation on their backs….” Joyce told the commission. “...We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fair rules, equal competition, and respect for the sacrifices American fishermen have made to protect this shared ocean. The Gray Zone can no longer remain a gray area.”

“The MLU believes that a bilateral committee is needed to discuss the ongoing issues between both countries about the Gray Zone, conservation, seasons, and enforcement …” Olsen said. “... I feel we need to bridge the gap between what harvesters are seeing daily on the water to the observations by scientists. Until we do, the lack of trust will continue.”

The ITC is an independent, nonpartisan federal government agency. The commission oversees a wide range of trade-related mandates and provides analysis of international trade issues to the president and Congress. The ITC is led by a group of commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to nine-year terms.

Golden, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, has fought fiercely on behalf of Maine’s fishing industry throughout his career. Last year he was the only representative from New England to join the effort to overturn a U.S.-only increase to the minimum catchable size of lobster. He also helped pass a six-year pause on new lobster gear regulations in 2022 — a moratorium he submitted legislative language to extend in July. He has submitted bipartisan legislation, the Northern Fisheries Heritage Protection Act, which would prohibit commercial offshore wind energy development in the critical, highly productive Maine fishing grounds of Lobster Management Area 1.

Golden’s full letter can be found here, and is included below in full:

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The Honorable Jamieson Greer

United States Trade Representative

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20230

RE: Request for Public Comments and Notice of Public Hearing Relating to the Operation of the Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada

Dear Ambassador Greer:

The Office of Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) submits the following public comment on behalf of various constituents in the Maine lobster industry: Virginia Olsen, the political director of the Maine Lobstering Union, and Dustin Delano, Chief Strategist of Policy and Operations for the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA). These leaders in the Maine lobstering community view the potential renewal of the United States – Mexico –  Canada Agreement (USMCA) as an appropriate venue to implement co-management fisheries practices with Canada around the Gray Zone, a 277 square mile maritime area in the Bay of Fundy over which both the United States and Canada claim sovereignty. Doing so would strengthen the economic well being of American fishermen by both preserving the sustainability of integral Gulf of Maine fish stocks, while also ensuring that they are not at a competitive disadvantage compared to their Canadian counterparts.

The Gray Zone has been claimed by both the United States and Canada since the Revolutionary War. For centuries, the lobstermen and fishermen of Downeast Maine have relied on this marine area to harvest lobster, scallops, and halibut, often competing with the Canadians who utilize these same fishing grounds. Frustratingly, while the long-term viability of these stocks are essential to the economic success of both American and Canadian harvesters, it is our fishermen and lobstermen who are required to adhere to the highest standards of conservation. Maine lobstermen abide by a maximum size limit for harvesting lobster and Halibut; Canadian lobstermen do not. Maine lobstermen mark the tails of egg-bearing females with a v-notch and toss them back so they can spawn; Canadian lobstermen do not. Maine fishermen use less durable gear with weak links to reduce lethal entanglements with endangered North Atlantic right whales; Canadian lobstermen do not.

Past attempts to resolve this territorial dispute to support the competitiveness of U.S. fishermen have been ineffective. A 2023 U.S. Department of State Report written for Congress titled “Progress Toward an Agreement with Canadian Officials Addressing Territorial Disputes and Collecting Fisheries Management Measures in the Gulf of Maine” incorrectly states: 

“The status quo benefits the United States by keeping the Gray Zone aligned with the more favorable measures applicable to the broader U.S. lobster management area within which it sits. Current cooperation has proved effective in managing the area. Negotiations to resolve the dispute would require significant dedicated resources. In the absence of a resolution of the territorial dispute, an agreement to resolve differing fisheries management measures in the Gray Zone could impact U.S. claims to sovereignty by creating regulations that differ from those applicable to the broader Gulf of Maine jurisdiction in which the Gray Zone lies.”

In reality, as management currently exists, there is no cooperation in managing this area.

This report – and past U.S. federal government assessments of the Gray Zone – are misleading, and the fishermen I represent have told me repeatedly that the current regulatory framework in the area does not benefit American fishermen; it hurts them.            

The implementation of a co-management practice in a renewed USMCA would address this harmful, unfair regulatory disparity. That is why the renewal of the USMCA provides a reasonable forum to discuss and potentially implement a co-management agreement, which should include Canadian and American fishermen working together to determine and follow the same regulations. 

The United States government should do everything in its power to ensure that our fishermen are not at a competitive disadvantage and deprived of economic opportunity. Maine’s seafood harvesters have been awaiting a resolution to the Gray Zone for too long and at great consequence to their safety, their businesses, and the natural resources they depend on. 

These constituents are prepared to provide testimony at the International Trade Commission on November 17th on the merits of a co-management practice in a renewed USMCA agreement.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

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