21 The SandBar 4 | October 2022
Seasonal Closures of Lobster Fisheries: The Wrong Way to Protect the Right Whale?
This article critically examines seasonal closures of lobster fisheries as a regulatory tool for protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. It considers whether such closures effectively reduce entanglement risk, their economic impact on commercial fishing communities, and whether alternative or supplementary measures might better balance species protection with sustainable fisheries management under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act.
Published in The SandBar, Vol. 21, No. 4 — National Sea Grant Law Center, October 2022.