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Maine lobster fishermen must report more about their catch

January 10, 2023 GMT

FILE - A lobster rears its claws after being caught off Spruce Head, Maine, Aug. 31, 2021. Maine’s congressional delegation is using the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill to try to delay for six years new protections for endangered whales to protect Maine’s lobster industry. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen in Maine, the state responsible for about 80% of the nation’s lobster haul in 2021, must now report more detailed information such as when, where and how many they catch.

Few had to report until this year, making Maine the only state that harvests lobster that didn’t require full details, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Fishermen started having to share the additional information with the state and regulators at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission beginning Jan. 1. Most lobster that comes to U.S. docks does so in Maine, so the new requirement should help fill some data gaps.

Fishermen in the state brought in about 109 million pounds of lobster in 2021.

The Maine lobster industry is also facing new rules designed to protect vanishing right whales, but the state’s congressional delegation used the recent federal spending bill to delay those protections.