"PORTLAND, Maine — Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision on Thursday and reinstated the protections. The lower court had ruled against a federal law banning lobster fishing in a 200-nautical-mile area off the New England coast from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually.
Lethal entanglement in lobster fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers less than 380 and is in decline. The other major threat is collisions with large ships.
The winter fishing ban is important to the whales’ survival because it takes place during months in which the giant animals are present in large numbers off the New England coast, said a group of environmental organizations that sued to reinstate the closure. The appeals court decision “represents a major victory for right whale conservation,” said Jane Davenport, a senior attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups that sued."
Patrick Whittle reports for the Associated Press February 3, 2025.
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