Congressional delegation pans Swedish lobster ban
Photo Courtesy / U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Maine’s congressional delegation and leaders in the lobster fishing and export industries are voicing their opposition to a proposed Swedish proposal that would label the American lobster as an invasive species, effectively banning the import of live lobsters.
On Monday, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin penned letters to Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, asking for their support in protesting the invasive species designation, according to the Portland Press Herald.
“We urge you to engage in immediate efforts to ensure the continuation of safe and responsible import of live Maine lobsters, consistent with the EU’s World Trade Organization obligations,” read the letter. “Since only a small number of Maine lobsters have been found in foreign waters, we believe regulators should take a more finely tuned approach before calling this an ‘invasion.’”
Annie Tselikis, director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association, is also raising concerns that the move to ban imports of American lobster is more about expanding the scale of the European lobster fishery instead of any possible invasion.
“It should be stressed that a ban on live imports would potentially be beneficial in terms of profits and jobs if the commercial fishery of Homarus gammarus (European lobster) is positively affected by the ban,” Tselikis quoted from the report, according to the Press Herald.
The potential ban could cost lobster fishermen and exporters in the U.S. $150 million a year, including $10.6 million in the state of Maine alone.
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