Maine senators push for Senate to take up House whale bill championed by lobster industry

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Trending on The Hill - September 15, 2026

Trending on The Hill - September 15, 2026

Maine’s two senators are urging the Senate Commerce Committee to take up and advance House-passed legislation that would extend a pause in rulemaking on protections for the right whales in an effort to safeguard the state’s lobster industry.

The House passed the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act earlier this month after two Democrats, including sponsor Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), crossed party lines to back the procedural vote to allow the bill and other GOP priorities for a vote on the floor.

Sens. Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I) said the regulations would have “effectively shut down the fishery,” in throwing their support behind the House bill.

“This pause is necessary to protect Maine’s lobster fishery, which is essential to the state’s economy and coastal communities. According to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the lobster industry supports an estimated $2 billion in annual economic activity and more than 17,500 jobs,” they wrote in a letter to the panel’s leadership.

In 2022, the pending whale regulations were punted to 2028 along with funding to further study whale migration patterns and the extent to which they overlay with lobstering territory.

King at the time called that legislation “a Christmas miracle........

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