SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Maine fishery regulators are unveiling a new right whale protection plan they feel will satisfy federal requirements while also preserving the state’s lobster fishery.
A federal team has called for a reduction of the vertical lobster trap lines in the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to the whales, which number about 400. Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says his department’s new proposal would remove 25 percent of the lines beyond an exemption line for inshore fishermen.
Many lobstermen opposed a previous proposal that would’ve included a deeper cut. Keliher says the new proposal recognizes that right whales face the greatest risk of entanglement in lobster gear when they are far offshore.
The proposal will be the subject of public meetings in November.
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