After a quarter century of trying to work with regulators to protect northern right whales, Maine lobstermen have at long last decided to throw down the gauntlet in defense of their fishery, long regarded as a model of sustainability.
At a waterfront rally Tuesday in Portland, speaker after speaker charged federal regulators with essentially carrying water for the offshore wind power industry, which is looking to place dozens of floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine. And they called for the state to step into the role of plaintiff in the industry suit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“There’s a power there that no other organization in the state has,” said Ray Richardson, a Portland talk radio host who organized the event.
Richardson was referring to West Virginia’s successful Supreme Court challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency, decided this year. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, recently rebuffed by a federal district court in its attempt to delay NOAA’s new restrictions, is seeking an expedited federal court appeal.
In its latest proposed plan for reducing mortality to Atlantic whales, the agency is calling for a 90 percent risk reduction target for the fishing industry. That means near gear, area, and seasonal restrictions for the lobster fleet. Yet there have been no right whale fatalities attributable to Maine lobstermen and there hasn’t been a documented interaction with Maine fishing gear since 2004.