Lobstermen Say Federal Rule Closing Fishing Grounds Is Unlawful

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Inc. on Friday challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service’s rule temporarily closing fishing grounds to protect North Atlantic Right whales.

The rule has “caused and continues to cause economic, aesthetic, cultural, and procedural injury to MLA and its’ members interests in the Massachusetts lobster fishery,” the group told the US District Court for the District Court of Massachusetts.

The agency amended the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to expand the boundaries of the seasonal Massachusetts restricted area to include the wedge between state and federal waters.

Specifically, this area was seasonally closed ...