Concerns aired about proposed whale rules

It has often been said that you cannot please everyone; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may find itself in the position of not being able to please anyone. The federal agency, which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service, has been addressing an outcry over right whale deaths. It is now in the process of finalizing regulations intended to reduce the number of whale entanglements in fishing gear, such as the one that Campobello resident Joe Howlett was working on to free a whale at the time of his death in 2017.
The process of formulating a policy requires the collection of public input, submitted both verbally and in writing. On February 24 NOAA's final verbal meeting was in an online setting that attracted 277 attendees at the start and at one point rose to above 300. NOAA's proposed changes include limitations on the number of vertical buoy lines; the inclusion of breakaway segments in buoy lines; alterations to the number of traps allowed per line; area closures to avoid whale migration paths; and state by state markings on lines to facilitate identification of rope retrieved from entangled whales. During her opening comments, NOAA representative Colleen Coogan noted, "We already have over 23,000 comments." Written comments were accepted up to March 1.
Any who wished to comment during the February 24 session were granted three minutes; most came in under that limit and only one was muted when he ran past his allocated time. This specific session was intended to address issues in northern Maine; however, the online format allowed speakers from other areas, and it was impossible to tell where they were located except in the rare occasions the speaker provided that information. One did disclose he was calling in from Florida. The previous evening, February 23, a similar meeting was held that focused on southern Maine.
Shortly after the opening of the session, Maine Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher spoke, observing that Rep. Jared Golden was online and representatives of the other members of the congressional delegation were also listening in. He then introduced Golden, who stated that he had written to President Joe Biden and had earlier written to "the previous administration," asking that they "pay attention" to the issue. "I think the fishing community has bent over backwards" on this matter, he said, and "they need to know what impact it has had on the right whale population." He asked that the community be provided evidence "that this will make a difference."
Following Golden's comments, Keliher observed, "A one sided approach for all of Maine will not work," urging regulators to establish a "trigger approach." Speaking of the industry, he added, "They work within operational realities," and he said that it was "very important that additional costs be addressed."
The remaining speakers generally fell into two broad categories: for and against tightened regulations. Some provided polished comments, identifying themselves as representing environmental action groups and occasionally noting that they had commented during the previous night's meeting, urging regulators to take a strict approach, claiming that endangered right whales are "nearing extinction." One -- the man from Florida -- stated that in his work as a wildlife photographer he had witnessed up close the anguish of entangled whales. "It takes them a year of suffering to die," he said.
Many individuals challenged NOAA's whale mortality statistics: some claimed they were too low, while others felt they overstated the matter. None expressed that the numbers were correct, including the person who called the draft environmental impact statement "lip service." Several claimed that the right whale population was rebounding and that the low population figures would soon be reversed. "We're on the way up," said one. "It's going to be a baby boom."
One commenter stated, "Entanglements continue to happen in the U.S., including three in the last few months. Ninety-three percent of entanglements will not be tracked back to the source. It is extremely likely that Maine equipment has been involved." The same commenter questioned whether the proposed weak links will benefit juvenile whales. Shortly afterward, another speaker attempted to refute the earlier comments, saying "no whale deaths are attributed to Maine gear," citing instead "ship strikes in Canadian waters."
At this point, a commenter who claimed to be an advisor for an environmental group stated, "Without whales all life will be impacted. The situation is urgent; they are victims of human activity."
While it was not possible to determine where most of those who identified themselves as fishermen were from, there were a few hailing from local communities, including John Drouin from Cutler, the chair of the Zone A Lobster Council. He spoke of changes driven by climate change, which he said caused right whales to move from the Bay of Fundy towards the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of food. He also spoke of the confusion in gear identification in the grey zone -- the waters surrounding Machias Seal Island, which are claimed by both Canada and the U.S. -- where conflicts are often reported.
Several spoke about the practice of marking lines to identify the state of origin -- a practice started a year ago in Maine where fishermen mark their lines with a purple stripe. One questioned whether the markings are authentic, suggesting that fishermen from one state might mark their lines with the color for another state to suggest that others were to blame for an entanglement. "I might even do that myself," he quipped.
Other industry participants included Kristan Porter of Cutler, president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, who noted that the U.S. fishery "is expected to take 50% of the risk reduction" of whale mortality, which he stated was "based on no sound data" and ignores ship strike incidents. He asked NOAA to "please consider the cost of this for the little benefit to the whale." State Rep. Genevieve McDonald of Stonington also spoke, challenging entanglement statistics to more accurately reflect where they occur instead of where they are found.
Many in the fishing community cited rising costs driven by entanglement regulations, with several claiming "you are trying to put us out of business." One summed up the apparent feelings of many by observing, "Fishing is not what we do, it's who we are."
The implementation date of the final rule, according to NOAA, cannot be established at this point, as many factors must be considered.