Snowe, Collins Applaud NMFS Decision to Delay Sinking Line Rule
June 3, 2008
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today announced that the National Oceans and Atmosphere Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will delay the implementation of the sinking groundline requirement until April 2009, to correspond with the beginning of the 2009 lobster season. In a conversation with Dr. James Balsiger, Acting Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), both Senators Snowe and Collins called the decision a positive step and highlighted the remaining need to resolve the long-term economic and environmental implications of the Final Rule.
"By agreeing to our request to postpone enforcement of these regulations, NMFS has acted in the best long-term interest of both the lobster industry and our populations of endangered whales. The delay will allow fishermen and gear manufacturers sufficient time to adapt to the new demand for sinking rope and an opportunity to improve the rules that will ultimately go into effect," said Senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. "While this action is a welcomed development, we must not lose sight of the work remaining to ensure that when rules enter into force in April, they reflect an appropriate balance between sustainability of the fishery and whale protection."
As an attempt to protect large whales from being entangled in lobster gear, NMFS created the Final Rule to mandate that lobstermen fishing outside an exemption boundary must begin using sinking ropes to connect their strings of traps beginning no later than October 6, 2008. In a letter to NMFS earlier this month, Senators Snowe and Collins cited that the October enforcement date coincided with the peak of lobster season. Coupled with the high cost of new equipment and the rising cost of fuel, the former enforcement date would have placed unnecessary economic hardships on the lobster industry.
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