Lobster fishing

NOAA’s announcement came a week after Maine’s congressional delegation announced plans to use the federal spending bill to attempt to delay new protections for the whales for six years.

Maine lobster fishermen have hired a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to represent them in their case against new laws intended to protect whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is appealing its case against the new rules to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The group said Tuesday it has hired Paul Clement,...

One of only 340 or so endangered North Atlantic right whales will likely die. After an aerial survey last week, experts at the New England Aquarium say the whale, named Snow Cone, a female who had recently reproduced and added to the scarce species’ population, had become newly entangled in fishing gear and was covered in cyamids or “whale lice.”…

Vessels off the East Coast must slow down more often to help save a vanishing species of whale from extinction, the federal government said Friday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the announcement via new proposed rules designed to prevent ships colliding with North Atlantic right whales. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two biggest threats…

Researchers at the University of Maine are attempting to work ahead to prevent problems between one of Maine’s heritage industries and a new clean energy sector. Over the past several years, Maine lobstermen have raised concerns about offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine and its potential to disrupt where and how they fish. Hundreds of people in...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday against Maine lobster fishermen who sought to block new fishing restrictions that are designed to protect rare whales. The new rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off limits to lobster fishing from October to January. That’s to protect North Atlantic right whales, which are one of the...

Members of the Maine lobster fishing industry are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block new fishing restrictions designed to protect a rare species of whale. The rules, designed to protect North Atlantic right whales, have been the subject of court action in recent weeks. New rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off...

Lobster fishermen off the Maine coast must begin to remove gear from a new protected area intended to help whales, the federal government said. New rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off limits to lobster fishing from October to January. A federal appeals court ruled this week that the ban is enforceable, despite legal…

Federal officials are implementing a new slow zone off Massachusetts to try to protect a rare species of whale. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created the slow zone south of Nantucket on Sept. 11. It’s designed to protect North Atlantic right whales and will be in effect until Sept. 26. The whales number only about 360 and they are…

New federal lobster fishing rules from NOAA meant to protect right whales from entanglements are being protested by lobstermen and politicians in Maine.

America’s lobster fishing industry will face a host of new harvesting restrictions amid a new push from the federal government to try to save a vanishing species of whale. The new rules, which have loomed over the profitable lobster industry for years and were announced Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are designed to protect the North...