PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine’s most prominent politicians are calling for the federal government to take a new approach to saving an endangered species of whale so protections don’t threaten the state’s lobster industry.

The four members of Maine’s congressional delegation sent recommendations to federal fisheries regulators late Tuesday about how to protect the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers about 400. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, also called on the government Wednesday to protect whales in a way that keeps lobstering viable.

A federal government team has called for removal of many vertical trap lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to whales, which can become entangled in gear. Mills said in a statement that federal officials should take into account that most recent right whale deaths happened in Canada.