The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) decision to suspend the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s eco-certification has not gone down well with leaders in the US state.
Following third-party fisheries assessor MRAG Americas confirmation that the suspension will be effective 15 December 2022 from which point Gulf of Maine lobsters will not be eligible to be sold as MSC-certified sustainable or to carry the eco-label, Maine’s Senators and Governor Janet Mills have voiced their deep disappointment, saying that environmental activists have engineered the move.
In a statement, Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, and Governor Mills said MSC’s temporary suspension of Maine’s lobster fishery is the result of a “years-long campaign from misguided environmentalist groups who seem to be hellbent on putting a proud, sustainable industry out of business without regard to the consequences of their actions”.
The leaders highlight that in MSC’s decision on the fishery there is the acknowledgment that the Maine fishery meets standards for sustainability and environmental impact and is unlikely to cause harm to right whales.
“While the Maine industry met the highest standards for environmental sustainability and impact, the current pending CBD v. Ross court case led by the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Humane Society of the United States made certification impossible. This litigation is based more on activism than evidence and is putting livelihoods in jeopardy,” the statement says.
“To be clear, this decision is not a reflection on the Maine lobster industry. As the MSC clearly states, ‘there is no recent evidence that the Maine lobster fishery is responsible for entanglements or interactions with right whales.’ The temporary suspension is purely because activists with an axe to grind have weaponised the court system and the Endangered Species Act to target the livelihoods of thousands of Maine lobstermen, their families, and the communities who work responsibly to maintain the delicate balance in Maine’s waters.
“The Maine lobster fishery has always complied with National Marine Fisheries Service regulations, and had the agency issued valid regulations, Maine’s lobster fishery would not have been in a position to lose its certification. It’s extraordinarily frustrating and incredibly unjust.”
Concluding, the senators expressed the hope that the MSC will reconsider the decision in light of the ongoing litigation. Additionally, they ask that any companies or people purchasing Maine lobster should view MSC’s decision purely as a result of a continuing legal process that is no fault of the fishery or lobstermen.
“In the meantime, we will continue doing everything in our power to support the iconic Maine industry and ensure that they have the resources they need to continue complying with any federal regulations,” they said.
MSC’s suspension of the lobster fishery has come amid concerns that endangered North Atlantic right whales are increasingly interacting with fishing gear and shipping vessels.
In July this year, a federal court ruling found that regulations intended to reduce the risk that the Maine lobster fishery poses to right whales did not meet legal requirements. Based on the new information from this court decision, MRAG Americas initiated an expedited audit of the Maine lobster fishery certification to determine if the fishery still meets the requirements of the standard.
Its audit concluded with the finding that as a result of the court ruling, the fishery is no longer in compliance with all relevant laws and does not meet the MSC Fisheries Standard.
However, in the most recent assessment by the assessor, no evidence was found that the Maine lobster fishery is responsible for entanglements or interactions with right whales.
The Maine lobster fishery was previously suspended in August 2020 for similar reasons, with the suspension lifted in September 2021 when new rules were put in place to improve management of right whales, however these regulatory measures were subject to legal challenge.
