A bill that would extend the current pause on the new North Atlantic right whale regulations affecting the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries until 2035 is moving toward a vote in the U.S. House, with fishing industry groups renewing calls for lawmakers to pass the measure.
H.R. 9436, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, would extend the existing regulator pause from its current 2028 expiration to 2035. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York, and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
As National Fisherman reported in July, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced the bill in a bipartisan 22-13 vote on July 15. The committee has since formally reported the legislation, and it is moving toward consideration by the full House.
The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), one of several commercial fishing organizations supporting the extension, sent a letter to Congress ahead of the expected House consideration urging lawmakers to pass the bill.
"As H.R. 9436 comes before the full House, we respectfully ask you to support its passage and to help ensure that this bipartisan committee-supported legislation moves forward without delay," NEFSA Vice President John Drouin wrote to Congress.
"The fishing communities and coastal businesses that depend on a stable, science-based regulatory framework cannot afford continued uncertainty," he continued. "Congress has an opportunity to provide that certainty now while maintaining existing protections and allowing the necessary science to be completed."
The regulatory pause dates back to legislation enacted by Congress in 2022, which directed federal regulators to treat existing measures governing the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries as sufficient under the Marine Mammal Protection Act through the end of 2028. H.R. 9436 would push that date back seven years to Dec. 31, 2035.
Supporters have argued that additional time is necessary because federal rulemaking and scientific research have not progressed quickly enough to provide regulators with the information needed to develop effective future measures.
"In 2022, Congress enacted this regulatory pause and funded new efforts to gather information to support a data-driven process establishing rules that made sense for both the fishermen and the whales," Golden said when the bill advanced through committee in July. "But today the rulemaking process is behind schedule for reasons that have nothing to do with Maine fishermen."
Golden said the extension would give regulators more time to strike a balance between protecting North Atlantic right whales and protecting commercial fishing livelihoods.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources has also supported extending the timeline, arguing that several ongoing research efforts may not be completed soon enough to inform regulations under the current schedule.
“We are still gathering various types of data, and we anticipate that several of these data streams will not be able to be incorporated into decision-support tools due to the compressed timeline for rulemaking," Maine DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson previously wrote in support of the legislation.
"An extension of the pause would ensure that there is time to incorporate this information, and that rulemaking is based on the best available science," Wilson said.
Golden’s office has also pointed to layoffs at NOAA and other federal disruptions as factors slowing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team’s rulemaking process.
NEFSA’s latest letter builds on the fishing industry’s broader support for the legislation. Organizations backing the proposal include the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA), Maine Lobster Advisory Council, Maine Lobstering Union Local 207, New Hampshire Commercial Fisherman's Association, and Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association.
The MLA has made a similar case, pointing to an extensive state right whale research and monitoring program now in its third year of collecting aerial, vessel-based, and acoustic whale data, along with improved reporting on lobster fishing activity.
“Extending the CAA’s regulatory pause is necessary to allow this work to produce a sufficiently reliable body of data to inform decisions about any risk posed by Maine’s lobster fishery to right whales,” MLA’s executive director Patrice McCarron wrote in an Aug. 27 letter urging House leaders to support H.R. 9436.
The CAA, or Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, established the current regulatory pause through the end of 2028 while providing funding for right whale research, lobster fishing-effort data, and innovative fishing technologies.
Supporters of H.R. 9436 contend that the legislation would not eliminate existing whale protections. Instead, they argue it would maintain the current regulatory framework while giving researchers and federal agencies additional time to gather data that could shape the next round of regulations.
Drouin made a similar argument in supporting the legislation earlier this summer, saying additional time would allow future management decisions to incorporate more complete scientific information while maintaining protections already in place.
The legislation's movement to the House comes more than a month after its committee approval and represents the next major step in an effort Northeast fishing groups have increasingly framed around regulatory certainty.
If approved by the House, H.R. 9436 would still need to pass the Senate before reaching the president’s desk.
