The Maine Department of Marine Resources seeks information from lobster harvesters who might be impacted by regulations under consideration by the New England Fishery Management Council designed to protect corals in the Gulf of Maine. Two of the proposed Gulf of Maine coral protection areas are Outer Schoodic Ridge and southwest of Mount Desert Rock. One of the proposed management options is a total ban on fishing.

The Department has proposed to exempt the lobster and crab fisheries in these two coral protection areas.

DMR has already provided information to the NEFMC compiled from dealer and harvester landings reports and industry input that gave an estimate of the economic impact of closing these areas as well as the number of potentially impacted boats and harbors.

In January the NEFMC voted that it was too early in the development of the Draft Amendment to consider an exemption and expressed an interest in more data and analyses of the fisheries in these two areas.

DMR is now seeking to gather more in-depth data that can be used to inform the federal regulations. "Maine's lobster industry provided valuable data when the federal whale rules were developed, which resulted in much better informed regulations," said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

"The areas under consideration are very important to Maine's lobster industry and we are again working closely with industry to ensure that these regulations take into account the full impact of these proposed regulations."

Harvesters who fish in either or both of these areas, are being asked complete a survey, available on the DMR website at http://bit.ly/2mxwEge. "The survey results will provide the department and NEFMC with data that can demonstrate the impact that these measures would have on the lobster fishery and the Downeast Maine economy," said Commissioner Keliher.

There will be an informational session for industry at the Maine Fishermen's Forum at the Samoset Resort on Saturday morning, March 4, 2017 at 9 am in the Rockport Room. Industry is invited to learn more about the proposed closures, the timeline for decision-making, and how to participate in the process.