The Maine Lobstermen’s Association withdrew support from an agreement that calls for Northeast lobstermen to reduce their risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales by 60%.
In a letter to Chris Oliver, head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the association said it would withdraw support for the April 2019 Take Reduction Team agreement due to “serious flaws in the data,” according to a news release.
The risk reduction strategy included removing half the number of lobster trap endlines in the water and using weak rope in the top of remaining endlines, which are the vertical lines that connect lobster traps on the ocean bottom with a buoy at the sea surface.
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