Lobster fishing endangers whales, says judge backing feds' finding

(Reuters) - The Biden administration relied, opens new tab on sound science in creating a rule affecting the lobster industry designed to reduce harm to endangered whales, said a federal judge who rejected a lawsuit filed by fishermen claiming the government had overstated their industry's impact.

The government’s 2021 biological opinion and subsequent rule requiring fewer vertical ropes in the water and restricting buoy lines in certain areas during whale migration relied on what it viewed as the best available data at the time, despite claims from industry that the findings overstate the threat to the North Atlantic right whale, said U.S. District Judge James Boasberg Thursday, granting summary judgment to the government defendants.

The harm reduction rule was issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2021 amid pressure from conservation groups that said strict regulations were necessary to reduce the risk of the endangered animals getting entangled in lobster fishing lines.

The current North Atlantic right whale population is estimated to be fewer than 340, according to environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, the Defenders of Wildlife and the Conservation Law Foundation. Those groups intervened on the government's behalf in the lobster fishermen's case.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports "elevated" mortality rates of the whales in their habitat in U.S. and Canadian waters since at least 2017. At least 34 dead whales have been recorded during that time, most caused by entanglements or vessel strikes, said NOAA.

The environmental groups, in a separate suit, have claimed the government’s regulations and analysis don't go far enough to protect the whales. After initially challenging an earlier version of the biological opinion in 2018, the groups have continued to push back on the government’s regulatory approach to lobster fishing in the North Atlantic, culminating in a July court order finding NMFS failed to act fast enough to protect the critically endangered whale. That case is still pending.

Thursday's decision "affirms that right whales can’t wait any longer for stronger protections from deadly entanglements in fishing gear,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement Thursday.

Spokespeople for NMFS declined to comment. The lobster fishing industry groups didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

The case is Maine Lobstermen’s Association Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service et al, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, case No. 21-2509.

For the Maine Lobstermen’s Association: James Feldman, Jason Morgan and Ryan Steen of Stoel Rives and Jane Luxton of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith

For the government: Brett Grosko and Taylor Mayhall of the U.S. Department of Justice

For the environmental groups: Kristen Monsell of the Center for Biological Diversity, Jane Davenport of the Defenders of Wildlife and Erica Fuller of the Conservation Law Foundation