By MLA Staff On November 16, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) announced the launch of a three-year, $10 million fundraising campaign to fight new federal regulations that threaten the future of the Maine lobster industry. The campaign … Continue reading
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Raises Concern Over Fishery’s Future And Need For Better Data In Whale Rules
“The MLA will not let over-reaching regulations based on inaccurate data erase the Maine lobster fishery and our fishing heritage,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), in response to two … Continue reading
MLA Statement on Gov. Mills’ Offshore Wind Announcement
November 20, 2020 Governor Mills’ announcement that her administration plans to move forward with an offshore wind research array off southern Maine was not welcome news for the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA). The MLA recently … Continue reading
Finding The Fun In Fundraising For The MLA
This summer many people and businesses contributed to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s Legal Defense Fund through multiple T-shirt sales, ingenious challenges and successful auctions. But perhaps no one has made raising funds for the MLA’s … Continue reading
Steaming Ahead- September 2020
For over sixty years the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) has represented the state’s lobster fishery in the same way: attending countless meetings, hundreds of hours of legislative and regulatory hearings, and meeting with Maine’s Congressional … Continue reading
Guest Column: Reflections from Stonington in a time of change
Indeed, these are weird times. Maine’s 4,500 independent owner-operator lobstermen are navigating what feels like never-before-experienced conditions of uncertainty. Tradition is something that this industry values deeply and credits for much of its success. While … Continue reading
At the Forum: NOAA Officials Answer Tough Questions About Whale Plan
A panel of five officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spoke to and answered questions from a largely polite audience of lobstermen and others at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in March. Chris Oliver, … Continue reading
DMR, NOAA struggle to find agreement on whale plan
In January the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) informed the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) that its proposal to reduce the risk of entanglement by North Atlantic right whales in lobster gear did … Continue reading
The Year in Review: 2019 packed with change and conflicts
2019 was a year of great change for the state of Maine, the lobster industry and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA). The lobster industry greeted 2019 with much anguish over prospects for an acute bait … Continue reading
Lobstermen Join MLA in Response to Future Uncertainty
Maine lobstermen are known for looking toward the future by taking steps to preserve the fishery for future generations. As regulatory and economic pressures increase on Maine’s lobstermen, many are deciding to join the Maine … Continue reading