Right Whale Protections Amped Up in New England
A federal judge in Boston ruled late Thursday that Massachusetts is violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by granting permits to lobster fishers to use vertical buoy lines, the ropes that connect lobster traps on the seafloor to buoys at the surface, without federal permission because the fishing lines are the leading cause of death of highly endangered right whales over the past decade.
Why This Matters: The Boston court ruling will likely disrupt the lobster industry in the short run.
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