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Rep. Jared Golden’s recent column claiming that the lobstering industry poses little threat to endangered North Atlantic right whales lacks critical context.
Golden claims that only one right whale death has been traced to Maine lobster gear over the last 30 years. But that claim fails to note that for decades, the lobster industry successfully avoided sufficiently marking their fishing gear, so connecting their gear to whale deaths was virtually impossible. Since 90 percent of the lobster industry is in Maine and getting entangled in fishing gear is a primary killer of right whales, it stands to reason that Maine fishing gear has contributed to more than one premature death.
Few would challenge Golden’s recognition of the importance of the lobster industry to Maine’s economy and coastal and island communities. However, that is not necessarily the case with his assertion that “fishermen need more time” before rules are put in place to protect the barely 370 right whales that remain on our planet. The government has considered right whales endangered since the Endangered Species Act passed more than 50 years ago.
Fishing gear has always posed a major threat. Viable alternatives, like “on-demand” gear with minimal fishing lines, are currently available for trying out at the government’s expense, but Maine fishermen are largely refusing to even test them out. How much more time do fishermen need? The whales don’t have much left.
Right whales needed new regulations protecting them years ago, not a decade from now. We’ll settle for the current deadline of 2028 and money to fund solutions. But if Golden and his colleagues ignore the enormous threat that fishing gear poses to right whales, they risk the extinction of these iconic creatures.
Erica Fuller
Senior counsel
Conservation Law Foundation
Portland
