PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine Sen. Susan Collins halted a nominee’s potential appointment to a federal post over objections to rules designed to protect rare whales.
Collins cited new regulations on her state’s lobster fishing industry that she described as “onerous.” The rules restrict commercial lobster harvesting and are intended to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in gear.
Collins stopped a vote Wednesday about the confirmation of Jainey Kumar Bavishi as assistant secretary of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, Maine Public reported. NOAA is the federal agency that regulates oceans and fisheries.
The new restrictions include a rule that requires lobster fishermen to install weak links in gear that allow whales to break free. Collins and other Maine politicians called on NOAA to delay the implementation of the rules earlier this spring because the gear was not available to many lobster fishermen.
