Lobster is Vital in Maine Where Much of the Tourist Industry  Depends on its Plentiful Supply for its Livelihood.

Following repeated calls from Maine political leaders, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced this morning that the agency is working to implement a graduated enforcement effort for fisheries that have made good faith efforts to comply with new gear regulations by the May 1, deadline according to a press release received this morning from the office of Representative Chellie Pingree(D).

Today’s announcement comes in response to continued effors from US Senators, Representative Chellie Pingree (D) and Governor Janet T. Mills, who have urged the Biden administrtion to give Maine lobstermen and women more time to comply with updated gear rules in light of supply chain issues occurring in the State of Maine and elsewhere.

“As we stated in our letter to Commerce Secretary Ramondo last month, supply chain disruptions are making it impossible for Maine lobstermen and women to purchase the new gear that NOAA is requiring.  NOAA’s announcement today is an acknowledgement of this reality, but falls short of honoring our reasonable request and the SBA Office of Advocacy’s recommendation to delay the implementation date.  Given that the lobster gear deadline is just two weeks away, this is an urgent problem and we will continue pushing to provide Maine’s lobster industry with as much support and flexibility as possible in complying with this unfair and onerous rule,” the Maine Delegation and Governor Mills said in a joint statement.  “A better and fairer solution would be for NOAA to delay the deadline to July 1 as we have repatedly called for.”

On March 30, 2022, Maine political leaders wrote to the Honorable Gina Ramondo, at the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC., seeking a “modest delay in implementation of a component of the new Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to use breakable lines in traps by May 1, 2022.  In the letter, Maine politicans sought a delay to July 1.  It is believed there are about 400 of these whales alive.

“Tourists come to Maine to eat lobster and not chicken salad sandwiches,” said Kevin Kelley, Director of Advancement for the Maine Lobstermen’s Assocation, back on March 23, 2022.

For more information on the NOAA’s threat to the Maine lobster industry, please visit post herein dated March 23, 2022 entitled:  “Maine’s Tourism Economy Threatened by Federal Rules Against Maine Lobstering.”