Maine Lobstermen's Association Update | August 2026

MLA July Board Meeting Summary

The MLA board met on July 7 in Belfast. Chairman Sonny Beal announced the successful launch of the Billion Egg Challenge (BEC), which opened to all Maine lobstermen and public supporters on July 1. He thanked board and staff members for their efforts with a special shout out to Jacob Knowles for the excellent kickoff video which set an enthusiastic tone for the campaign. Patrice recognized the significant effort required to launch the Challenge on a compressed timeline and thanked both staff and board members for their contributions, ideas, and feedback.

Gerry Cushman & Crew representing team Midcoast Notchmen.

The Challenge is off to a strong start, with more than 100 participating lobstermen and more than 500 public supporters registered in its first week. Promotional flyers for lobstermen, public supporters, and sponsors have been distributed. Successful sponsorship collaborations have made this program possible. The MLA directly invited zone council chairs, lobster buyers and coops, industry associations, student license holders and many others to participate.

The MLA has expanded its role in this year’s Maine Lobster Festival, serving as a co-sponsor of the International Great Crate Race and as a judge for the Lobster Delegate competition. The MLA hopes to attend Sullivan Days and the Tides & Traditions fundraiser to benefit the Maine Lobster Community Alliance. Plans are also underway for an MLA event in Kennebunk in November.

The MLA is partnering with several research teams to secure project funding through the Northeast Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative.

Richard Howland is serving on the ASMFC’s Lobster Steering Committee, which was created to develop a more collaborative process with the industry should future regulatory proposals become necessary. Membership includes commercial fishermen, representatives from the Department of Marine Resources, and other stakeholders. He reported that the first meeting was lengthy and focused primarily on how the committee will function. He is committed to participating in order to provide a strong industry perspective throughout the process.

The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association organized meetings with the Acting Director of the USDA Office of Seafood, Mike Illenberg, visited Maine in mid-July. Patrice will attend these events to discuss USDA programs and opportunities that could benefit Maine’s lobster industry and lobstermen.

The MLA’s legal team is preparing for upcoming Take Reduction Team meetings and strategies to protect Maine’s lobster industry given the current deadline for new whale rules and a Biological Opinion by the end of 2028. The MLA is actively working with other groups on the whale issue to keep a unified voice for Maine’s lobster industry.

The MLA supports Congressman Golden’s proposed pause on new whale regulations, which continues to advance in Congress, and is actively pursuing a long-term, permanent regulatory solution. MLA will continue to work closely with industry stakeholders as this evolves. The MLA’s lawyers will be in the appeals court in Boston on July 27 to argue against Monterey Bay Aquarium’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

Sonny and Patrice attended the Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) meeting on June 30 in Augusta. Among the topics discussed was a proposal to increase the required bio-panel size for lobster traps, allowing a two-year phase in period. The proposal would need to pass the Legislature an, if adopted, would likely not take effect until July 2029.

The board discussed its proposal to update Maine’s enforcement laws to tighten penalties for egregious violations and repeat offenders. The MLA will update the LAC on the proposal at the Council’s next meeting. The board also recommended that the report of violations be published a few times a year in Landings to improve transparency and restore some peer accountability.

Patrice reported that NMFS sent a letter to the New England Fishery Management Council on July 2 requesting action on several issues. Of importance to the lobster fishery was to “deprioritize requirements for ropeless gear.” The letter noted that “Trap fishers face high operational costs from these technologies, and halting or making their implementation optional will remove requirements to mitigate potential adverse operational costs.” Also of interest to the lobster industry is implementing rotational access to the Northern Edge scallop fishery. This is an area with large, female lobsters which seasonally migrate to Georges Bank. Opening access was discussed by NEFMC a few years ago, but the action was discontinued due to a lack of agreement on how to provide access to scallop areas while minimizing habitat impacts, and cod and lobster bycatch.

The board discussed ongoing concerns over the profitability of the lobster industry. It will focus on understanding strategies fishermen are using to maintain or improve profitability under current economic conditions and how those approaches can be shared across the industry.

Board members provided updates from local harbors, with most reporting that lobstering remains slow. Some areas are seeing lots of snappers and eggers, and a few inshore areas reporting spurts of shedders. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for September 9.

Lobster Advisory Council Meeting

The Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) met on June 30 and elected David Tarr to serve as chairman. The LAC voted to advance a proposal to increase the size of biodegradable escape panels, designed to release when lobster gear is lost, to 4.5 inches-by-6 inches (equivalent to 3x4 standard mesh) with a two-year phase-in. The proposal will go to the zone councils this fall for feedback and would require legislative approval this winter a change to the regulation for implementation.

Megan Ware updated the LAC on the next round of federal whale rules, which must be finalized by the end of 2028. DMR expects the risk-reduction target to be lower than it was in 2022 because right whale births now exceed deaths and the population is growing, although additional measures are still expected to be required. A risk reduction target is expected in November. NMFS plans to hold scoping meetings this summer and a Take Reduction Team meeting later this year. DMR does not expect a push for widespread ropeless fishing.

The LAC voted to send a letter supporting Rep. Jared Golden’s bill to extend the regulatory pause to 2035. DMR stressed that any extension should include funding to continue the research and data collection needed to inform future rules. DMR has contracted with the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries to launch “Protect Our Fishing Future,” a public awareness campaign aimed at preparing Maine’s lobster industry to participate in the upcoming whale-rule process.

Deirdre Gilbert, DMR, provided an update on the Lobster Seed Fund, which currently has $500,000 accrued balance. The Seed Fund has historically been used to liberate [purchase and then free?] lobsters that seeded out while being held in lobster pounds, however, no requests were made to free seeded lobsters in 2024 or 2025. The LAC voted to again allow zones to decide whether annual revenue should support research or lobster liberation. It also made $25,000 available to dealers to free seeded lobsters if needed. The LAC tabled for 18 months consideration of an industry survey on Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative funding.

Marine Patrol Major Rob Beal reported that DMR has added three Marine Patrol officers who are assigned to Cutler, Georgetown and Wells. DMR’s new 57-foot vessel, launched June 11, is already conducting offshore enforcement. Over the past three years, DMR has issued 66 license suspensions and 38 lobster violations. The LAC discussed increasing suspension lengths. The MLA is developing a legislative proposal related to enforcement and will update the Council at its next meeting.

Sonny Beal spoke to the LAC about MLA’s Billion Egg Challenge, a statewide effort to protect 1 billion lobster eggs this summer. All lobstermen and student harvesters are encouraged to participate.

Billion Egg Challenge Update

As of July 27th, the Billion Egg Challenge has 170 lobstermen participating - Downeast Tail Pinchers with 80 boats, Southern Maine Future Catch with 50 boats, and Midcoast Notchmen with 39 boats. More than 660 members of the public are following our teams — Downeast Tail Pinchers with 560 followers, Southern Maine Future Catch with 57 followers, and Midcoast Notchmen with 49 followers.

The Billion Egg Challenge runs through National Lobster Day, September 25. If you’ve not signed up yet, there’s still plenty of time to join the fun at

www.billioneggchallenge.org!

Lobster Boat Builder Approved to Install Tier 3 Engine

On July 22, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an exemption on a specific new lobster boat model from Tier 4 engine requirements, allowing the installation of a Tier 3 engine. The MLA has been working with EPA to make exemptions possible for lobster boat builders. The agency is utilizing this flexibility for the first time to support American boat builders, lobstermen, and the New England maritime communities.

After carefully reviewing information submitted by the boat builder, EPA determined that the currently available Tier 4 engines cannot fit within the applicant’s vessel design while main taining essential operational requirements. EPA determined this boat builder meets the exemption criteria and qualified to use a Tier 3 engine.

EPA collaborated with the MLA and other stakeholders to increase awareness of the existing exemption process and ensure vessel builders understand the options available under current regulations when unique vessel designs and operational needs present compliance challenges. The agency will continue to individually review any new requests in accordance with the existing regulatory requirements and the law.

Bait Fisheries

Maine’s commercial State Allocated menhaden fishery was off to a slow start for several weeks following its June 8 opening, with harvest allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and a weekly vessel limit of 17,850 lbs. (51 barrels) per harvester vessel. DMR reports that landing through July 29 have reached 66% of Maine’s state allocated quota. DMR will provide notice when the state allocation quota is harvested and the fishery enters the Episodic Event Set-Aside fishery (EESA) during which harvest days will Mondays and Thursdays, with a weekly vessel limit of 4,000 lbs. (40 barrels).

The Area 1A herring fishery opened July 19 with a small quota allocation of 2,401 metric tons (mt). Vessels are allowed five consecutive landing days a week of up to 240,000 lbs. or 6 trucks per week. Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with an Atlantic herring Limited Access Category C or Open Access D permit may land herring six consecutive days a week. With less than a week of landings reported (as of July 23), less than 1% of the Area 1A herring quota was reported landed and 7.6% of the total herring quota for all areas was landed (Area 1A at 0.7%; Area 1B at 136%; Area 2 at 0.3% and Area 3 at 3.7%).

Fishermen’s Remembrance Day

Maine observed its first official Fishermen’s Remembrance Day on July 21, following state legislation signed into law in March 2026. The inaugural statewide day featured a public ceremony at Fishermen’s Memorial Park in Boothbay Harbor and the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial in Lubec. There was also a coordinated wreath-laying ceremony at eight commercial fishing memorials, from Downeast to southern Maine, to honor fishermen who never returned home. “Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day is an opportunity to honor those we have lost, stand beside the families and communities who continue to carry their memory, and reaffirm our commitment to helping more fishermen return safely home,” said Liz Michaud of Green and White Hope to the Boothbay Register.

Right Whale Updates

Monterey Bay Aquarium defamation lawsuit

On July 27, the First Circuit Appeals Court in Boston heard arguments on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s request to dismiss the defamation lawsuit filed by the MLA and other plaintiffs. The lawsuit claims that Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program made false and misleading statements when it placed American lobster on its “red list” by selectively using scientific information, ignoring evidence about Maine’s conservation measures, and presenting disputed conclusions as established facts.

Federal legislation to extend the right whale regulatory pause

The MLA thanks Congressmen Jared Golden (D-ME) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) for advancing the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act (H.R. 9436) through the House Committee on Natural Resources in a 22-13 vote on July 15. The bipartisan bill next will move to the House floor for a vote before heading to the Senate. This bill would extend the current pause on whale rules to 2035. We appreciate Congressman Golden’s continued leadership and commitment to Maine’s lobster industry.

Take Reduction Team

NMFS held a TRT webinar on July 19 on entanglement mitigation approaches currently in place in Canada through its whale-safe gear strategy, the U.S. West Coast sablefish and Dungeness crab fisheries, and the Southeast black sea bass fishery.

NMFS’s timeline to complete new whale rules includes scoping in August and September 2026, TRT meetings in December 2026 and March 2027, Proposed Rule in the fall 2027 with a two-month public comment period, and a Final Rule published by the end of November 2028 with an effective date of December 31, 2028.

Canada published its Whalesafe Gear Strategy in 2026 and is prioritizing building upon existing measures to protect right whales in eastern Canada. It will undertake an entanglement risk assessment in 2027 and implement programs including gear modifications and on-demand gear through 2030. Canada’s Whalesafe Gear must be flexible, affordable, and tailored to diverse fisheries, and must have realistic timelines, continued gear trials, and address technical challenges like interoperability, clear approval standards, and effective communication.

NMFS presented an overview of the West Coast sablefish pot fishery and California and Oregon Dungeness crab fisheries. The sablefish fishery is phasing in gear marking, surface marking identification, voluntary best practices, and improvements in data collection methods. The Dungeness crab fisheries have adopted gear marking, derelict gear recovery programs, taut line requirements and surface gear limitations.

USDA Office of Seafood Director Visits Maine

The MLA joined a group of Maine’s seafood stakeholders to meet with Mike Illenberg, Acting Director of the USDA Office of Seafood, during his visit to Maine in July. Illenberg is a 20-year veteran of the USDA who has some experience working directly within the commercial fishing industry. During the visit, Illenberg visited several ports to learn about Maine’s fisheries, and had several meetings with industry representatives to discuss the unique needs of Maine’s commercial fishing and lobstering business and how the USDA Office of Seafood can support this important business sector.

Lift All Boats

The MLA’s Associate Director, Chris Payne, joined the Lift All Boats participants for a lobstering trip in July. The trip was captained by Brett Brown. The students hauled their traps and V-notched some eggers as part of MLA’s Billion Egg Challenge. After the students sold their catch ashore, Chris joined them for lunch to talk about MLA’s work, the importance of Maine’s lobster conservation measures, and his work as a marine biologist.

Lift All Boats was created by Luke's Lobster in 2022 as a mentorship program to give students with no connections to the lobster industry the resources and training they need to explore lobstering and build careers in the industry.

Since 2022, 41 young people have spent their summers lobstering under the mentorship of local lobstermen. The students spend 50+ hours on the water and the docks learning how to set and haul traps, maintain their gear, and operate a boat safely. Luke’s buys their catch at market price at its wharf in Portland.

Some of the participants have chosen to go further as lobstermen. The program connects them to captains who are eager to hire, knowing that the students have the skills they need to fish safely.