February 20, 2008
Snowe pans lobster gear changes
Senator Olympia Snowe yesterday criticized a new federal rule that will require lobstermen to buy more expensive gear to help protect whales.
Snowe yesterday presided over a U.S. Senate subcommittee field hearing in Brewer on the requirement. About 160 people at the hearing, mostly fishermen, said the National Marine Fisheries Service didn't have enough data to support the new requirements and that replacing floating lines with sinking lines would be too expensive, according to the Ellsworth American. "It's no exaggeration that this could put many lobstermen out of business," Snowe said, according to the paper.
Snowe said the NMFS should push back the October compliance deadline and conduct more research, but George Lapointe, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said there are no plans to push back the deadline, the paper reported.
Snowe yesterday presided over a U.S. Senate subcommittee field hearing in Brewer on the requirement. About 160 people at the hearing, mostly fishermen, said the National Marine Fisheries Service didn't have enough data to support the new requirements and that replacing floating lines with sinking lines would be too expensive, according to the Ellsworth American. "It's no exaggeration that this could put many lobstermen out of business," Snowe said, according to the paper.
Snowe said the NMFS should push back the October compliance deadline and conduct more research, but George Lapointe, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said there are no plans to push back the deadline, the paper reported.
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