LCV Responds to False Reporting: ‘The League of Conservation Voters is not pushing for lobstering restrictions’

Sep 9, 2022

Emily Samsel, esamsel@lcv.org, 828-713-9647

Portland, ME – In response to false reporting, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) clarified that the group is not pushing for lobstering restrictions or red-listing of Maine lobster in the following statement from Senior Director of Government Affairs Matthew Davis:

The League of Conservation Voters is not pushing for lobstering restrictions and has absolutely no involvement in the recent red-listing of Maine lobster by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard 2019 included an amendment on federal legislation to prohibit the National Marine Fisheries Service from implementing recommendations to save the North Atlantic right whale, it would be completely false to say that we are advocating for restrictions, and even more false to assert that we are one of the main groups doing so.  Even more importantly, our state affiliate, Maine Conservation Voters, has been extremely clear that they have never supported – and will never support – the proposed right whale regulations that would harm Maine’s iconic lobster industry. LCV stands behind Maine Conservation Voters. This is clearly a bad faith attack from the most extreme Republicans in an attempt to distract voters away from their unpopular policies, failed records, and lack of action. Instead, we should be working together to protect our common environment, including the Gulf of Maine, which is warming at a rate faster than 99% of the world’s oceans.