PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision […]
Patrick Whittle | Associated Press
Posted inNews
Earthquake rattles houses in Maine and is felt hundreds of miles away
SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — A 3.8-magnitude earthquake centered near the Maine coast rattled houses in northern New England on Monday and was felt by surprised residents of states hundreds of miles away. The earthquake took place at about 10:22 a.m. on Monday and was centered about six miles (10 kilometers) southeast of York Harbor in […]
Posted inCity & Government
Environmentalists say Trump’s energy order would subvert the Endangered Species Act
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmental groups concerned about loss of protections for vanishing animals see one of President Donald Trump’s early executive orders as a method of subverting the Endangered Species Act in the name of fossil fuel extraction and corporate interests. Trump declared an energy emergency via executive order earlier this week amid a promise to “drill, baby, […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Biden administration withdraws rules to save endangered whales from collisions
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government is withdrawing a proposal that would require more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to try to save a vanishing species of whale, officials said Wednesday. The move in the waning days of the Biden administration will leave the endangered North Atlantic right whale vulnerable to extinction as […]
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Third entangled endangered whale spotted in span of a week off East Coast
A third endangered whale has been spotted entangled in fishing gear off the East Coast, marking an alarming end to the year for a species threatened with extinction. The whales are North Atlantic right whales, which number fewer than 400 and are vulnerable to ship collisions and entanglement in gear. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]
Posted inBusiness
Small winter catch set for New England’s long-closed shrimp industry, a climate casualty
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — New England shrimp, long lost from the marketplace as waters have warmed, will come back to seafood counters in small amounts next year due to a research fishing program. Also called Maine shrimp or northern shrimp, the small pink crustaceans were long beloved by seafood fans in winter. But for a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen’s friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes for one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy — seafood — and some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs. Economic analysts paint a more complicated picture, as they […]
Posted inNews, Weather
East Coast storm makes a mess at ski resorts while bone-chilling cold hits the Upper Midwest
By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Frigid weather returned to the Upper Midwest on Thursday after a storm that swept up the East Coast delivered a blow to New England, packing powerful gusts that knocked out power along with a deluge of rain and warming temperatures that washed away snow and […]
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Atmospheric river brings weather whiplash to East Coast as bomb cyclone develops
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. East Coast began a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather Wednesday with a deluge of rain, rapid snowmelt and powerful gusts, creating dangerous conditions, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Ski resort operators in the Northeast watched their snow turn to mush with a deluge of rain […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
First right whales of season gorge on critical food off Massachusetts, giving hope for a strong year
Scientists who study a critically endangered species of whale that lives off New England said encouraging early signs suggest the animals could have a strong season for feeding and breeding. The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest whale species in the world and it is thought to number about 370. The giant […]
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Historically bad year for dolphin strandings on Cape Cod has scientists looking for answers
An unprecedentedly bad year for beached dolphins on Cape Cod might have to do with warming waters changing the availability of the animals’ food, said scientists hoping to curb the strandings. Cape Cod, the Massachusetts peninsula beloved by beach tourists and seafood lovers, has a long history of marine mammal strandings. That is partially because […]
Posted inBusiness, Food & Drink
Report finds that America is catching and eating a little less fish
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The volume and value of America’s commercial fishing industry both fell according to newly released federal figures, though members of the industry said the decline was to be expected following a recent spike in supply. The catch at U.S. ports in the 50 states fell 2.6% to 8.4 billion pounds in 2022, according […]
Posted inCity & Government, Environment & Health
US chooses winning bids in first commercial sale for floating offshore Atlantic wind
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. government chose winning bids Tuesday to develop wind power off New England in the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic coast. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a lease sale and selected nearly $22 million in winning bids for four lease areas from two firms. The […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health, News
Right whale population grows 4% but extinction remains a threat
BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine (AP) — One of the rarest species of whale in the world has increased slightly in population, encouraging conservationists to call on the federal government and the shipping and fishing industries to do more to bring the giant animals back from the brink of extinction. The North Atlantic right whale, which can weigh […]
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Wreck of French steamship that sunk in 1856 discovered off New England coast
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The French steamship Le Lyonnais, a marvel for its time, was feared lost forever when a maritime disaster in 1856 sent her to the bottom of the ocean off Massachusetts. Generations later, a marine salvage crew is ready to write the next chapter in the history of the passenger liner, which […]
Posted inFood & Drink, News
Just how rare is a rare-colored lobster? Scientists say answer could be under the shell
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Orange, blue, calico, two-toned and … cotton-candy colored? Those are all the hues of lobsters that have showed up in fishers’ traps, supermarket seafood tanks and scientists’ laboratories over the last year. The funky-colored crustaceans inspire headlines that trumpet their rarity, with particularly uncommon baby blue-tinted critters described by some as “cotton-candy colored” […]
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Titanic expedition yields lost bronze statue, high-resolution photos and other discoveries
A bronze statue from the Titanic — not seen in decades and feared to be lost for good — is among the discoveries made by the company with salvage rights to the wreck site on its first expedition there in many years. RMS Titanic Inc., a Georgia-based company that holds the legal rights to the 112-year-old […]
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Feds announce funding push for ropeless fishing gear that spares rare whales
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — New efforts to convert some types of commercial fishing to ropeless gear that is safer for rare whales will be supported by millions of dollars in funding, federal authorities said. Federal fishing managers are promoting the use of ropeless gear in the lobster and crab fishing industries because of the plight […]
Posted inBusiness, Food & Drink, News
Game of inches: Lobster fishermen say tiny change in legal sizes could disrupt imperiled industry
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Gerry Cushman has seen Maine’s iconic lobster industry survive numerous threats in his three decades on the water, but the latest challenge — which might sound tiny — could be the biggest one yet. Lobster fishing is a game of inches, and the number of inches is about to change. Fishing regulators […]
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Sea turtles strandings have increased dramatically. Congress might create a fund to bail them out
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Sea turtle strandings have ticked up at an alarming rate in New England, but now the reptiles are close to receiving a lifeline from Congress to help them stay in the water. Congress is nearing passage of the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, which would create a new $33 […]
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American flags should be born in the USA now, too, Congress says
Soon, Old Glory will have to be born in the land of the free and not merely flying over it. Congress has passed a proposal to require the federal government to purchase only American flags that have been completely manufactured in the U.S. The U.S. imports millions of American flags from overseas, mostly from China, […]
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Barstool owner rescued by Coast Guard after losing control of boat off Nantucket
The owner and founder of Barstool Sports lost control of a boat off Massachusetts before being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Dave Portnoy, 47, said in a TikTok video that the harrowing Monday rescue off Nantucket happened after he unhooked his boat from buoys. Heavy winds then caused him to drift out to sea, […]
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Environmental groups decry attempt to delay shipping rules intended to save whales
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A Georgia congressman has proposed a yearslong delay in changes to federal rules meant to protect vanishing whales, prompting a rebuke from environmental groups who say the animals need protection now. The delay proposed by Republican Rep. Buddy Carter concern new vessel speed rules issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service […]
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Large whale group spotted off New England includes orca eating a tuna, dozens of endangered species
A large number of whales visiting the waters off New England included an uncommon sighting of an orca eating a tuna and an unusually large group of an endangered species of whale, scientists said. A research flight made 161 sightings of seven different species of whale on May 25 south of Martha’s Vineyard and southeast […]
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Maine company plans to launch small satellites starting in 2025
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Representatives for a Maine company that plans to send small satellites into space from the Northeast’s most rural state said they will start launches next year. Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace hopes to turn Maine into a hub for the launching of commercial nanosatellites and has been making progress toward that goal for […]