AUGUSTA – Maine lawmakers are pushing for a bill to allow electronic surveillance on lobster boats.
WGME reported that the bill submitted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources would require lobstermen to agree to the surveillance as a condition of getting their lobster licenses.
If law enforcement believes a lobsterman is violating the law, they will first send evidence to the Department of Marine Resources. Then, the department could use surveillance equipment to record the boat’s movements. Lobstermen convicted of violating the law could have their fishing licenses suspended.
Rep. Walter A. Kumiega III, who proposed the law, says it will help catch lobstermen cheating the system. However attorney Kim Irvin Tucker says the law is “shameful” and treats lobstermen as if there were a “lawless group of people.”
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