Lobstermen all over the state might’ve just gotten a reason to celebrate.

According to the Portland Press Herald, the 1.7 trillion-dollar omnibus plan passed through the Senate yesterday afternoon and is now on its way to President Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.

Right before the bill passed, Maine’s delegation managed to add in a few paragraphs about saving the lobster industry and protecting them from certain regulations until 2028, that would decimate the state’s economy. In a show of bipartisan unity, all of Maine’s major lawmakers from Susan Collins to Janet Mills support saving one of Maine’s biggest industries, one that draws in $700 million per year.

This comes after a month’s long battle with organizations like the Marine Stewardship Council and Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood watch program over concerns about the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales getting entangled in lobster traps and other fishing gear. North Atlantic Right Whales currently number around 340, with only 70 birthing females. Whales and fishing/hunting have always had a bad relationship, with the name for Right Whales coming from whaling back in the 1800’s after the species was the preferred target for whalers.

In the present day, Right Whale deaths by humans aren’t as direct, but still a huge issue. Whales get hit by boats, and get injured by fishing gear, including lobster and crab traps via strangulation through the ropes attached to the traps. Maine lawmakers have argued against this by saying that Right Whale deaths via lobster traps are exceedingly rare, with the last known death being in 2004.

But that’s not to say the industry is going back to business as usual. Alongside the loosening of restrictions comes $50 million to spend on research on things like ropeless traps that’ll make lobster traps way less of a threat to marine life.

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