Another bank steps up to support Maine Lobstermen’s Association
File photo / Laurie Schreiber
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association received over $500,000 in support from two banks over the past week to its “Save Maine Lobstermen” campaign.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust said Friday it would make a “significant ongoing financial contribution” to support the Maine Lobstermen’s Association's legal and policy efforts to protect Maine’s lobster industry.
The bank has also pledged additional funding to aid the association’s four-pronged strategy to preserve sustainable fishing as well as the fishermen and communities that depend on it.
The commitment comes just days after Machias Savings Bank said it would donate $250,000 to the association, after a federal court agreed to expedite the association’s appeal of a decision in its lawsuit against National Marine Fisheries Service.
Kevin Kelley, a spokesperson with the association, told Mainebiz the latest commitment is $325,000.
“That means two Maine banks have committed more than a half million dollars in one week to helping our approach to save the lobster industry and protect the endangered whales,” said Kelley. “It’s a massive effort and I think it reflects the fact that people understand how important the lobster industry is to the overall economy of Maine but also how vital it is to our small, coastal communities.”
The support comes as the lobster industry tackles difficult issues related to federal policies over the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The association seeks to reverse what it called "a scientifically flawed federal whale plan that could cripple Maine’s lobster industry and negatively impact the economy of Maine and coastal communities."
“We have been serving the people and businesses of Maine for more than 135 years, this is our home, and the lobstering industry is a cornerstone of not only our community’s economic vitality but also the spirit of who we are as Mainers,” Curtis Simard, CEO and president of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, said in a news release.
Simard said the bank has supported the association for many years. The most recent support provided is for the association’s “Save Maine Lobstermen” campaign in the industry’s “fight against impending regulations that could eliminate the fishery,” he continued. “This must not happen, given its significant contributions to our economy and long tradition that it represents.”
The association is engaged in a four-prong strategy to save the Maine lobster industry as well as the right whales:
- Legal and policy efforts to fight a federal plan that will harm the lobster industry;
- Collaboration with scientific experts to ensure cutting-edge science is the basis of any right whale conservation plan;
- Efforts to develop innovative gear solutions that protect right whales;
- Communication and advocacy to build support for the Maine lobster industry and its importance to the area’s economy and heritage.
Click here for more information on the campaign
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