I am currently making my way through New England for this year’s fall color trip, and now I feel I should make it an apology tour.
My husband and I spent several days in Maine enjoying lobster and lobster rolls, only to discover that a group of Bay Area eco-activists has placed lobsters on its “red list.”
Maine lobster industry officials and processors worry the recent “red-listing” of the American and Canadian lobster fishery by an influential conservation watchdog group could hurt the state’s fishing fleet at a time when it is already feeling threatened by increasing regulations.Earlier this week, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch recommended consumers avoid lobsters caught throughout New England and Canada because management of the fisheries don’t go far enough to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglements.It is not the first time the aquarium has said consumers should not eat lobster due to environmental concerns. It cited overfishing when lobster made the list in 2000, but later backtracked and removed lobster from the “avoid” list.
Some retailers are taking lobster off the menu.
Seafood Watch, which rates the sustainability of different seafoods, said this week it has added the American and Canadian lobster fisheries to its “red list” of species to avoid. The organization, based at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, said in a report that the fishing industry is a danger to North Atlantic right whales because “current management measures do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the species.”Thousands of businesses use Seafood Watch’s recommendations to inform seafood buying decisions, and many have pledged to avoid any items that appear on the red list. A spokesperson for Blue Apron, the New York meal kit retailer, said after the release of the report that the company no longer offers lobster. HelloFresh, the Germany-based meal kit company that is the largest such company operating in the U.S., also pledged shortly after the announcement to stop selling lobster.
I will note those companies who are so easily bullied by eco-activism and make it a point to go elsewhere for my meals. Two can play that game.
Maine’s famed lobstermen are fighting back, too.
Local lobstermen are furious over the “red list” designation by the environmental group Seafood Watch discouraging the purchase of Gulf of Maine lobster….Lobstermen argue their traps are regulated in the United States to the point where they consider it unfeasible for right whales to get caught in their traps. Maine lobstermen have not had an interaction with right whales in nearly 20 years, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said this week.With the new listing, coming out the month of Maine Lobster Week, Maine lobstermen and officials as high in power as the governor are denouncing Seafood Watch for unfairly attacking Maine’s struggling lobster industry.“Seafood Watch is misleading consumers and businesses with this designation,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement Tuesday. She said generations of Maine lobstermen have worked hard to protect the sustainability of the lobster fishery and have taken unprecedented steps to protect right whales.
Maine’s other US Senator, Angus King, had the best assessment of the Monterey Aquarium and its group of eco-nuts: “arrogant fish zoo.”
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, was visibly upset as he addressed reporters outside Luke’s Lobster in Portland on Friday. He dismissed the aquarium as an “arrogant fish zoo.”“They have made a decision, which is a knife in the back of the lobster industry in Maine, with no evidence,” he exclaimed.King was flanked by Gov. Janet Mills, Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Kelliher, Luke’s Lobster owner Luke Holden, and Curt Brown, lobsterman and marine biologist for Ready Seafood.The group argued there are no documented cases of Maine lobster gear ever killing a right whale, and the last entanglement was in 2004, while Maine boasts the largest lobster fishing industry in the United States.The group also said fishermen have taken multiple steps to prevent entanglement, including removing 30,000 miles of rope from the water, begun using weaker lines and added break points to them, and closed sections of water to fishing.
As a Californian, I would like to apologize to the Great State of Maine….and promise to order more lobster during the remainder of my New England vacation.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY