Maine Lobstermen's Association

Advocacy to sustain the lobster resource and the communities that depend on it. The mla participated in multiple policy arenas on behalf of our members to ensure a sustainable lobster resource and fishery. Mla worked through the atlantic large whale take reduction team to ensure that new whale regulations which became effective on may 1, 2022 would not put Maine lobstermen out of business. Mla also engaged with the state of Maine and the bureau of ocean energy management to raise concerns regarding the negative impacts that offshore wind development poses to Maine lobstermen. The mla also participated in the 130th session of the Maine legislature providing public testimony on legislative proposals which would impact mla members.education activities related to sustaining the lobster resource and the communities that depend on it. The mla continued to educate our members by publishing the mla papers each month in landings. The mla pages include updates on mla's policy activities and other work. The mla also published an outreach guide in the april and may issue of landings to ensure that Maine lobstermen understood the changes they needed to implement to comply with new federal whale regulations. In addition, mla sent weekly email updates to keep lobstermen informed of recent developments in the Maine lobster industry.legal defense fund. The mla continued to promote its legal defense fund to support the organizations policy and legal agenda. Specifically, this work is targeted at ensuring that current and future federal whale regulations do not put lobstermen out of business.