WASHINGTON – The Maine lobster industry may be getting an extended reprieve on new regulations aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales.

A bill, the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), will extend a moratorium on those regulations for Maine lobster fishermen until 2035. Yesterday, the bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 22-13.

In remarks to the committee, Golden noted that many communities in Maine rely on the lobster industry, and are being threatened by the new regulations.

“Many of these towns could not survive without this fishery,” he said. “It forms a tax base that pays for their schools, for their infrastructure, public safety and more. Any threat to this industry is really a threat to the men and women who work on the water, not only to them but to the entire community that they are so, so vital to.” 

The moratorium, which dates back to 2022, was designed to give the industry time to adapt to the new rules, which among other restrictions would require fishermen to use new fishing gear with thinner lines that would allow right whales to escape if entangled.

Environmental activist group Oceana, in a statement, called the pending restrictions “critical protections for North Atlantic right whales.” 

After Wednesday’s vote, Oceana Senior Campaign Director Gib Brogan blasted lawmakers for clearing the bill in committee.

“For far too long, North Atlantic right whales have been getting entangled in fishing gear while we’ve debated and studied what to do about it,” he said. “They needed more protections in 2022 when Congress ignored a mountain of evidence and decided that insufficient efforts were enough. Now, once again, lawmakers are trying to pass the buck.”