R. Westerman Pew
Spring 2025
Human Wildlife Conflict
Human Wildlife Conflict Level of Conflict Analysis:
Maine Lobster Industry vs. North Atlantic Right Whale Conservationists
1. Introduction
The North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) is a critically endangered Right Whale that has been plagued by multiple human caused threats. One of, if not the most, harmful of these modern threats is entanglement with various forms of fishing equipment. When a marine organism becomes entangled it can lead to a slow and painful death where the animal can not function the way it ought to be able were it not entangled. This can entail higher energy output, decreased ability to swim, obtain food, reproduce, and increased likelihood of developing infection and sickness (Christiansen et al., 2020). With every individual NARW being crucial to the genetic diversity and hopes for population growth of the species, this threat must be addressed to reduce the number of unnecessary, human caused NARW deaths, and prevent their extinction. The issue has sparked conflict around where the blame for these entanglements fall, with the Maine lobster industry receiving much of it. Whether they are responsible, and for what extent of the situation, is highly debated, with the issue repeatedly being disputed in court. In this paper I will conduct a Level of Conflict (LoC) analysis on the controversy around this situation, examining each level: dispute, underlying, and identity based/deep rooted.
1a. NARW Background
The NARW’s range spans along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada, with a few individuals having been sighted eastward towards Iceland and the Atlantic coast of Europe. They are most commonly known to spend summers feeding in the cold northern waters off Massachusetts, Canada, and Maine, then migrating in the fall, their calving season, south to the Carolinas, Georgia, and northern Florida (NOAA, 2025). They are baleen whales; they feed on krill, shrimp, plankton, and other small organisms. They grow up to a sizable 52 feet long and on average live 70 years, though during the last couple decades it has been closer to 45 for females and 65 for males (NOAA, 2025).
NARWs are one of three right whale species, along with the North Pacific and Southern Right Whales. The reason they are named right whales is an unfortunate reflection of their past; whalers used to say they were the “right” whale to hunt because they are big, slow, and their corpses float. The penchant that whalers had for this species led to their being pushed to the brink of extinction. While the Northern Pacific and Atlantic right whales are down to a few hundred individuals left, the right whales of the southern hemisphere are both more healthy and more numerous, with greater than 15,000 individuals (Christiansen et al., 2020). The Southern Right Whale population was able to recover after commercial whaling ended, however the northern species have not had the same success due to birth rates being too low and death rates, particularly of breeding females, being too high (Christiansen et al., 2020). Entanglements are one of the reasons for the NARW’s decreased health, which in turn plays a role in their population’s inhibited growth rate. In a study comparing the northern and southern Right Whale populations, it was shown that the NARW has inferior health and body conditions, with their lower birth rate being hypothesized to be a result of nutritional stress — an impact of entanglement that severely reduces reproductive success (Christiansen et al., 2020).
A recent report calculated there to be between 360 and 383 NARWs left in the wild with a 95% confidence interval (Linden, 2024). Their population was down to under 300 in 1990, grew to just under 500 by 2011 where it remained around for a few years. In 2017 began an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) which we are still in the midst of, where 20% of the population has been affected, the number of NARWs fell to just over 350, and deaths have outpaced births throughout (NOAA, 2025 &Christiansen et al., 2020). The cause of this has been primarily entanglement and vessel strikes, the two greatest threats to the survival of the species.
1b. Entanglement Background
Entanglement occurs when a sea organism gets rope or netting wrapped around it. This can be from active or discarded fishing gear. An estimated 82% of NARWs have been entangled at some point in their life (Knowlton, Hamilton, Marx, Pettis, & Kraus, 2012). Depending on what the organism becomes entangled in, it can remain entangled for as short as hours or as long as years. The average NARW entanglement lasted 92 days (van der Hoop, Corkeron, Moore, 2016). It can significantly weigh them down, causing their energy usage to dramatically increase to the point where their daily activities put them in a serious energy deficit. On average an entanglement increases the drag forces on the whale by 1.5x, while entanglement in a lobster trap leads to a 3.1x increase (van der Hoop, Corkeron, Moore, 2016). Lobster traps are also prone to cause entanglement because they entail a vertical line from the buoy on the surface down to the heavy lobster pot on the sea floor. In some areas there are dozens, even hundreds, of these lines creating a forest of ropes that these huge whales must navigate. When entangled, the ropes can dig into them leaving permanent scars, and while not always fatal, it causes enough impairment to have a significant impact on their health and chances of reproduction. With this knowledge on the shockingly high number of NARW entanglements and the detrimental effects it has on them, it is clear why their population numbers have not been able to recover.
Despite that clarity, the controversy arises when trying to pinpoint who is responsible for the entanglements, so that action can be taken towards reducing entanglements moving forward. The stakeholders involved include the governmental agencies such as the NOAA, NMFS, and MDMR overseeing their conservation, NGO’s advocating for the NARW’s conservation such as the NARWC, CBD, etc., Maine’s politicians concerned with the wellbeing of the lobster industry, the Maine Lobstermen Association, local whale watchers, boaters, and environmentalists, as well as the fishing industry, lobster industry, and shipping industry. While vessel strikes are a serious threat to NAWRs of near or equal magnitude to entanglement, this paper will solely be focused on the latter.
2. LOC Analysis
One thing I’ve learned about human wildlife conflict is that it’s often easier to clarify the details related to the animal’s behavior, ecology, or influential environmental factors, than it is to work with the human stakeholders in fostering an agreement to mitigate the issue. These human-human conflicts that arise around the human-wildlife conflicts make achieving solutions far more challenging. This notion is intensified when there are underlying factors related to histories of disputes and/or personal or social values. In order to explore, learn how to engage with, and overcome these conservation related human-human conflicts, one tool that can be used is the Level of Conflict Analysis, developed by the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution, and described in Madden and McQuinn’s chapter one of the textbook Human-Wildlife Conflict: Complexity in the Marine Environment.
2a. Dispute Level Analysis
The first LoC in this model is the surface level: observable and immediate dispute. In this paper’s case, the dispute level consists of conservationists expressing outrage at the amount of NARWs suffering from entanglement issues, and lobstermen expressing frustration at the blame they are taking. These disputes were observable in the various court hearings over the protection of the NARWs and the regulations placed on the lobster industry. In 2022, a federal court ruled in favor of conservation organizations alleging the NOAA/NMFS was not doing enough to protect the NARW’s from the potential of entanglement from the lobster industry. This case lasted for 4.5 years, ruled that the MMPA and ESA had been violated, entailed the placing of blame on the deadliness of lobster gear, and required new regulations to be implemented (Center for Biological Diversity, 2022). This ruling prompted a response from the Maine Lobstermen Association, saying that they are at least grateful that the court recognized the potential harm that could be done to the men and women of the lobster industry and emphasized the industry’s heritage (Whittle, 2022). This point about heritage is important to subsequent levels of conflict.
The conservationist’s victory, however, was short lived. Maine’s congressional delegation later placed a six-year delay on the new regulations, citing concern about impacting the lobster industry too harshly (Miller, 2023). Maine’s senator Susan Collins was quoted saying “I have never seen a worse case of regulatory overreach to […] blame an industry that is not at all responsible for a problem” (Miller, 2023). Furthermore, the initial ruling in 2022 was appealed and overturned the following year, mandating that the new regulations be reworked (Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2023). This reversal prompted Maine Governor Janet Mills to laud, “Today’s decision vindicates what the Maine lobster fishery, and the countless communities that rely on it […] We are pleased the court has acknowledged that the data set NOAA has been using to unfairly target Maine’s fishery is flawed.” (Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2023). Former Maine Lobstermen Association President Dave Cousens called the new regulations “nonsensical” (Whittle, 2023). I cite these quotations to highlight the argumentative nature of the observable dispute level of this controversy. The conservationists are desperate to save these magnificent whales on the brink of extinction, while the lobster industry and its supporters deny responsibility and prioritize the industry’s economic importance.
2b. Underlying Conflict
In the Level of Conflict analysis, the following LoC is underlying conflict. This level is less observable and more related to the history of conflicts, particularly unresolved ones where “past interactions, decisions, or events leave one or both parties feeling dissatisfied, disrespected, or disempowered” (Madden & McQuinn, 2015). A history of unsettled issues can heighten emotions beyond expected levels for new disputes. In the NARW example, the presence of underlying conflict is a factor congruent with the aforementioned definition. The lobster industry has been required to comply with increasingly strict and numerous regulations since the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan was introduced in 1997 (NOAA, 2025). These regulations include trap number limitations, seasonal closures of certain areas, equipment markers, bans of particular equipment, as well as implementing various other technique and equipment-based adjustments to their practice (NOAA, 2025).
In 2024, the first recorded example of a deceased NARW being found entangled in gear marked as to indicate it was from the Maine lobster fishery. In the ensuing news coverage of this event, lobstermen were interviewed to give their firsthand opinion on the situation. Their comments hint at the history of underlying conflict. In a NBC News interview, Maine lobsterman Steve Train expressed frustration with the implications of the event for the lobster industry, mainly the incoming regulations and the blame they will take, mentioning that “We’ve adjusted what we do time and time again” (Haskell, 2024). An ABC News segment interviewed another long time Maine lobstermen, John Drouin, who also was worried his industry would be unfairly blamed (Clement, 2024). These type of comments are important to note because they embody the sentiment that this conflict has been going on for a while unresolved and leaving them feeling disempowered, thus supporting the idea that underlying LoC is applicable here.
From the lobstermen and their supporters’ point of view, despite their compliance with the seemingly endless regulations, and the lack of concrete data condemning them, they receive too much of the blame from conservationists for NARW entanglement. Additionally, it seems to them that authoritative bodies want to continue subjecting regulations upon them until the lobster industry collapses, with proposed regulations being described as an economic death sentence by Senator Angus King (Miller, 2023).
2c. Identity Based/Deep Rooted Conflict
The final LoC in this model is identity based, also referred to as deep rooted. It consists of conflicts involving cultural, demographical, social, political, or other types of personally held values and beliefs (Madden & McQuinn, 2015). In severe cases, this type of conflict can cause prejudicial notions and barriers to be formed about opposing groups or ideologies, making conflicts more complicated and hindering collaboration (Madden & McQuinn, 2015). While this level’s application to the NARW/lobster industry conflict is not quite as obvious as the other two, it is relevant to discuss.
When considering the historical, cultural, and economic significance that lobster holds in Maine, one can begin to understand why this conflict does have deep rooted components. Lobster is a famous icon of the state of Maine, being one of the first things people associate with the state. The lobstering industry composes 80% of the value of all Maine fisheries (McClenachan, Scyphers, Grabowski, 2019). Many lobstermen are a part of the occupation as a result of heritage or generational tradition, with parents, even grandparents, having been in the industry too. It is not a very lucrative job, and is one that entails hard physical labor, long hours, and operational expenses. When conservation groups try to make their job more difficult and expensive by imposing regulations and limitations, social and economic prejudices could conceivably be present, particularly when they fear the collapse of the industry as some of the previously discussed first-hand accounts have expressed. With that being said, there are many examples of lobstermen highly valuing marine conservation as a whole, and expressing an utmost willingness to reduce NARW entanglement however that may be possible. While identity-based components do factor into the conflict, it is not as clear cut as the first two levels, and may influence some individuals more than others due to the heterogeneity of the industry. It is important to keep in mind, but the degree of significance could be debated.
One external factor potentially exacerbating the conflict by increasing anxiety around the industry’s longevity and threatening their identity is climate change. Warming ocean temperatures have been shown to affect both NARWs and lobsters. The Gulf of Maine has become even more important for the NARWs due to their prey adjusting to the higher temperatures (Briggs, 2022). Additionally, the rapidly warming Gulf of Maine could have detrimental effects on the lobsters, from risk of bacterial infection to potential for northward and offshore migration, decreased size, and decreased survival and reproduction rates (McClenachan, Scyphers, Grabowski, 2019).
3. Future Direction
Moving forward, a fine line must be walked in order to do enough to help the imperiled NARW, while doing it in a way that the lobster industry can support. If the new regulations can proceed in accordance with the LoC analysis, and be mindful of the pertinent social and economic factors inherent to the lobster industry, resistance will be minimized (Acheson, 2011). The most promising future direction is the advancement and widespread implementation of rope-less traps. In 2022, when the regulation delay was implemented, rope-less lobster trap systems were still in development (Miller, 2023). Today, however, progress has been made on these innovations, but they are still not widely available at this point. They are currently in a testing phase where permitted fisherman can borrow them from a library. There are a few variations, but all entail technology where a remote on the boat sends a signal to the trap triggering a mechanism such as an inflatable bag to activate and raise the trap to the surface (NOAA, 2025). This clever innovation has potential to entirely eradicate entanglement with active lobster pots but is expensive and would require training. Ideally, the NMFS or MDMR would provide the funding to get these devices into the hands of all licensed lobster boat operators, which would minimize potential pushback if the rope-less gear were to eventually be made mandatory.
4. Conclusion
NARW entanglement is an issue that has potential to contribute to the extinction of the species. While it has been proven that a substantial number of NARW do become entangled, the degree to which the Maine lobster industry is responsible is highly debated. The Level of Conflict analysis has helped to identify that the present disputes are to some extent being fueled by a history of underlying and identity-based factors where lobstermen have been left feeling disempowered. Meanwhile the dire situation of the NARWs have been raising urgency on the conservationists’ side. However, the rope-less innovations provide hope if they can be implemented in a widespread fashion as soon as possible. This optimally will at least initially require governmental assistance in terms of funding and training so as not to face significant resistance from those concerned with the economics of the industry. Let us hope that these two sides can “untangle” their differences to reduce entanglement and save this majestic species before it is too late.
References:
1. Christiansen et al. https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m640p001.pdf
2. Linden, Daniel W. 2024 Population size estimation of North Atlantic right whales from 1990-2023 Northeast Fisheries Science Center (U.S.) NOAA technical memorandum NMFS NE ; 324 DOI : https://doi.org/10.25923/bjn8-kx95 https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/66179
3. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale/overview
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9. Whittle, 2022 - https://apnews.com/article/maine-whales-lobsters-climate-and-environment-c6e70c4863b2e4fded7ffa7bee3486cb
10. Miller, 2023 https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146637583/maine-lobster-industry-wins-reprieve-but-environmentalists-say-whales-will-die
11. https://www.maine.gov/dmr/news/fri-06162023-1200-court-decision-major-win-maines-lobster-industry
13. Haskell, 2024 - https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/tech/science/noaa-right-whale-chronic-entanglement-rope-maine-lobstering-fishing-gear/97-cbdda62a-d127-4e9b-ae6e-d1a7cda16ca7
15. McClenachan L, Scyphers S, Grabowski JH. Views from the dock: Warming waters, adaptation, and the future of Maine's lobster fishery. Ambio. 2020 Jan;49(1):144-155. doi: 10.1007/s13280-019-01156-3. Epub 2019 Mar 9. PMID: 30852777; PMCID: PMC6889303.
16. briggs, 2022 - https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1409&context=oclj
18. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/developing-viable-demand-gear-systems
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