“What caused the die-off, had it impacted the environment underneath the net pens?" Executive Director Crystal Canney asked. “These are all questions the [Department of Marine Resources] owes an answer to, to not only the fishermen but the lobstermen in the area.”

“This is incredulous,” says Crystal Canney, executive director of Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation (PMFHF). “The whale deaths are not in Maine at the hands of Maine lobstermen…instead of saving right whales, what this decision has done is endanger not only the livelihoods of many of our lobstermen and women but also their lives,” she adds.

A massive die-off of farm raised salmon, in pens off Black Island in late August, has prompted a series of questions to state regulators, from groups concerned about the impact of industrial-scale aquaculture on coastal Maine waters. Black Island is a few miles south of Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island.

FOAA documents from DEP related to the Cooke Aquaculture salmon die-off.

Good Morning,

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation was part of a large protest flotilla regarding the proposed 120 acres of salmon pens in Frenchman Bay.

Dear Commissioner Keliher:

Our groups represent a considerable number of lobstermen, other fishermen, recreational boaters, and those who live and work along the water both year-round and seasonally. We understand that there was a large die-off of farm raised salmon at the Cooke Aquaculture project off Black Island recently and have many questions that we feel need to be addressed. We remain concerned about DMR’s approval and monitoring process for leases within the state.

Federal fisheries regulators on Tuesday announced new rules for the northeast lobster industry. The rules, which are aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales, are more stringent and extensive than lobstermen and state officials had expected.

After long hours hauling traps off the coast of South Thomaston on Wednesday, Barry Baudanza hadn’t had the chance to fully absorb all the changes headed his way after federal officials announced new rules governing the lobster industry the day before, but he knew one thing right off the bat: “This was the worst-case scenario.”

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation calls on state and federal authorities to do all they can to change the decision handed down by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan today. The decision will close large parts of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay from October to January.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, a nonpartisan group that represents the interests of Maine lobstermen, said the decision will close large parts of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay from October to January.