Federal regulators working to protect right whales need better data or they will hit the wrong target – Maine’s lobster industry, U.S. Sen. Angus King said. Read More
Scientists are working hard to understand that shift, while lobstermen here in Maine say it shows the whales’ risk of entanglement in their gear is overblown. Read More
It’s been a devastating summer for the endangered marine mammal. Read More
The controversial rules could force Maine lobstermen to remove from the water half the rope they use to haul their traps, and to use rope that would break more easily. Read More
The pushback needs to stay focused on the gaps in the science. It cannot be an inflexible argument that amounts to, “leave us alone. We’re not the problem.” That could lead to even bigger problems down the line. Read More
Maine lobstermen support protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale, but say that new regulations could cause large-scale disruption in this state's lobster industry. Read More
Right whales number only about 400, and eight of them have been found dead off Canada this year. Read More
Significant gaps in the data remain even after decades of tracking these whales. Read More
A showdown over lobsters and whales appears to be brewing between Maine and the federal government. Read More
Maine's Congressional delegation is appealing directly to President Donald Trump to intervene in a federal rulemaking process that aims to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale, but which could cause large-scale disruption in this state's lobster industry. Read More
Six of the whales have died in Canadian waters in the last several weeks, and necropsies show three of them appear to be due to vessel strikes. Read More
The Maine Department of Marine Resources is holding the meeting with lobstermen in Freeport on Thursday. Read More
Having been told that Maine lobstermen will have to reduce the number of vertical fishing lines in the water by half, officials are beginning the complicated process of trying to figure out how to achieve that goal. Read More
The research builds on a body of work that shows stress hormones elevate when whales become entangled in fishing gear, which some scientists estimate kills up to 300,000 whales and dolphins annually. Read More
Maine’s congressional delegation wrote Tuesday to federal officials to express concern that ongoing efforts to decrease the death of right whales will have a significant impact on Maine’s lobster industry. Read More
That's causing a significant disruption in the seasonal migration of endangered right whales, according to a new scientific study. Read More
The federal government is creating a new vessel speed restriction zone off Massachusetts to try to protect rare North Atlantic right whales. Read More
Delegations from each state are proposing measures to meet an overall goal of reducing whale injury and mortality by 60 percent. Read More
