top line
Major fishing groups announced Wednesday that they would no longer recognize lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine as sustainable, mainly years after entanglement in fishing lines.
A major seafood organization has suspended Maine’s lobster sustainability certification. … [+]
important facts
MRAG Americas, Inc., a consulting organization that promotes sustainable fishing, has announced that it has suspended Maine Lobster sustainability certification through the Marine Services Council, effective December 15, according to an MSC press release. .
Without MSC certification, Maine lobster can no longer be sold with a recognizable blue sustainable label. This is the latest hit to the lobster industry following the announcement of the Sustainability Guide’s Seafood His Watch, which opposes buying lobster from U.S. or Canadian waters and turns Maine lobster red. . A list of foods to avoid.
Lobster fishermen and environmental groups have been battling lobster regulation for more than a decade. Ecological groups warn that vertical near-shore fishing lines that connect lobster traps on the seafloor to buoys on the surface can hook whales, making them the main culprits. . Amid the catastrophic collapse of right whale populations.
main background
The National Marine Fisheries Service last year introduced new rules for catching lobster that limit the number of fishing lines in right whale habitat, requiring knots so that fishing lines can be untied when whales become entangled, and seasonal fishing grounds Closure was performed twice. Whales migrate to the northern seas. It’s the latest attempt to protect right whales and follows previous federal regulations that have been criticized by environmental groups for being ineffective. In July, a judge in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 2018 set of regulations failed to protect right whale populations, prompting the agency to sue the Federal Endangered Species Act and the Marines. He said he violated the Mammal Protection Act. Four years of legal battle. After the ruling, the Maine Lobster Association released a statement saying, “It is more important than ever that the MLA has the financial resources to continue this fight.” The Maine Lobstermen’s Association also challenged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s goal of reducing harm to right whales by he 98%. boston globe report. New England lawmakers were divided over recent regulations targeting the lobster industry, with Sen. Angus King of Maine saying after the organization put lobster on the red list, “literally, these It’s trying to put people out of business,” he accuses Seafood Watch.
amazing facts
Right whales were once thought to be so abundant that they were once known as “hunting right whales”, and because they floated afloat when killed for the convenience of 18th- and 19th-century whalers. , which was given its name. The WGBH reports that their numbers plummeted during the 1900s due to overfishing, dropping to 268 in 1990, but began a slow recovery over the next two decades, to around 481 in 2011. . Scientists have also been concerned about the low birth rate. He had 15 calves born so far this year, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, fewer than the 18 he had born last year, half of the 24 calves born on average each year in the early 2000s. Strong.
tangent
Some environmentalists point to ropeless rigs as a compromise to sustain the lobster industry and protect right whales from entangling. The gear acts as a system of uninflated buoys that can be placed next to lobster traps on the sea floor. Lobster Man can be inflated using his mobile app, allowing buoys to rise to the surface and Lobster Man to carry traps when nearby. — although criticized as expensive and ineffective, NOAA Fisheries scientists estimate that about 85% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once. Efforts have been made to untie the whales from their fishing gear, but the task has proven to be extremely difficult and sometimes fatal.
big number
$724.9 million. That’s how much Maine’s lobster fishery earned last year, up 75% from 2020, making it the most profitable year in the state’s history, according to data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
References
North Atlantic right whale population drops to about 340, worrying scientists (Washington Post)
New Lobster Regulation to Protect Right Whales Opposed by All Sides (WCAI)
Federal court rules that fisheries officials did not do enough to protect right whales from lobster gear (Boston Globe)
