June 22, 2023 | Image Source |
The tide has turned for Maine’s lobster industry after a federal judge ruled that data used by NOAA regarding the fishery’s impact on North Atlantic right whale deaths was flawed.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association stated that the analysis provided by NOAA: “did not rely on the best available scientific information, made erroneous and arbitrary assumptions unsupported and contradicted by data and evidence, relied on an outdated and flawed methodology to model projections of the North Atlantic right whale population, and inexplicably failed to account for either the positive impact of mitigation measures already or soon-to-be employed by the Maine lobster fishery.”
Maine is the largest lobster-producing state in the nation, contributing over $1 BILLION to the local economy, harvesting over 100 MILLION pounds of lobster a year, and employing more than 5,600 lobstermen.
Maine Lobster Fact Sheet – Maine Lobster (lobsterfrommaine.com)
Link To Full Article HERE
“In this case, we decide whether, in a biological opinion, the Service must, or even may, when faced with uncertainty, give the “benefit of the doubt” to an endangered species by relying upon worst-case scenarios or pessimistic assumptions. We hold it may not.”
-U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg
Link To Decision HERE
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