Maine delegation asks for help easing tariff impact on lobster industry

Photo / Laurie Schreiber Calm waters in a quiet fishing harbor belie the turmoil roiling the lobster industry due to trade wars and gear issues.

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By Staff

Maine’s Congressional delegation is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include funding for Maine’s lobster industry as USDA finalizes its aid package for agricultural producers affected by China’s retaliatory tariffs.

U.S. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, and Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, have signed a letter that reiterates an earlier request of relief for Maine’s lobster industry amid the ongoing trade war with China, according to a news release.

“Retaliatory tariffs have caused a very significant export market for Maine lobster — China — to all but disappear,” the letter says.

The delegation requested “significant” funds for Maine’s lobster industry through USDA’s Agricultural Trade Promotion Program.

“ATP funding will help to develop new export markets for Maine lobster, decreasing the blow of Chinese tariffs on an iconic American industry,” the letter said.

In June, the delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to provide financial assistance to lobster businesses hurt by the ongoing trade war with China, similar to the relief being provided to American farmers.

The delegation noted that prior to the Trump administration’s tariffs imposed on a variety of Chinese goods, China had become the second largest importer of Maine lobster.

The delegation’s outreach comes at a time when the lobster industry is also grappling with the potential impacts of reducing their vertical lines by half.

Maine Department of Marine Resources has been in the midst of meetings with the lobster industry to discuss strategies for coping with the expected 50% cut. The DMR held its first round of meetings along the coastline in June, and said it would hold a second round in August.

The delegation’s latest effort on behalf of the lobster industry comes on the heels of a similar appeal by Maine Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include blueberries in USDA’s Market Facilitation Program.

The USDA initiated its second Market Facilitation Program this year to assist farmers hurt by trade disruptions prompted by foreign tariffs on their products, according to a news release.

Mills: “I stand with you”

The Department of Marine Resources released a statement from Gov. Janet Mills Friday morning that cites “a disturbing lack of evidence connecting the Maine lobster industry to recent right whale deaths.”

Mills noted that six right whale deaths in Canada this year, in addition to the three right whales recently discovered entangled in Canadian waters, are evidence that the Maine lobster fishery is not the primary problem for right whales.

“Based on the lack of evidence connecting the Maine lobster fishery to recent right whale mortalities and the risk of negatively and profoundly altering our fisheries because of these pending regulations,” Mills said, she has directed Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher to evaluate a risk reduction target for Maine that is commensurate to actual risk posed by the Maine lobster industry – not the 6% risk reduction target assigned by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“My administration will not allow any bureaucrat to undermine our lobster industry or our economy with foolish, unsupported, and ill-advised regulations,” Mills said.