An apprentice measures a lobster to see if it’s a keeper aboard the Sea Smoke in Casco Bay in July 2023. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Regulators have withdrawn a proposal to increase the minimum size requirements for lobsters caught in Maine, a move praised by harvesters who said the change would give Canadian competitors an unfair advantage.

The change was announced by the Maine Department of Marine Resources at a hearing Thursday night, after a fiery argument between the commissioner and lobstermen in attendance. The department also pledged to consult lobstermen about any future conservation proposals for the fishery, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, said in a statement praising the decision.

“I have always said that Maine’s lobstermen are the best, most informed conservationists for this precious and storied fishery,” Golden said in a statement. “Lobstermen have been saying for months that the proposed gauge increase was not only a risk to their livelihoods and their communities but an unnecessary overreaction to questionable stock data. I’m proud of them for going to the mat for their industry, and glad their voices have been heard and that DMR has pledged to give the lobstermen a seat at the table in determining what conservation efforts, if any, are needed to protect their fishery.”

The one-sixteenth of an inch increase was designed to help boost the dwindling stock of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine. But lobster harvesters and dealers have said it could eliminate the most lucrative segment of their catch and give Canadian competitors an unfair advantage.

Data from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission indicated last year that lobster stock had declined by more than 35% in the largest management area in the Maine fishery. The Department of Marine Resources’ proposed gauge increase was twice as large as the last increase 30 years ago.

After that proposal was released, Golden implored regulators to delay the implementation, giving the board and fishermen more time to collect more accurate and comprehensive data and study the economic impact of the change. The rules had been set to go into effect on Jan. 1, but were delayed until July.

During a public hearing held Thursday as part of the rulemaking process, Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, got into a heated exchange with lobstermen who had packed the room. A video of the meeting shows Keliher talking about how the future of the industry is at stake and people in the audience starting to talk over him before Keliher asks the crowd to listen to him.

“We don’t have to listen to you,” one man shouted. “You sold out to NOAA and Canada.”

Warning: The following video contains explicit language.

Keliher cursed at the man in response, drawing more shouts and protests from the crowd. One person accused Keliher of being a sellout, other people also used profanity, while some said everyone should walk out of the meeting.

“I am pulling the regulation as of right now. … The fact of the matter is there is a risk associated with pulling this rule. If you guys are OK with accepting and understanding what that risk is, I am going to fight back at the (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission),” Keliher said.

In an email to the Press Herald, the commissioner apologized “to anyone I offended,” pledged to rebuild trust and said his commitment to supporting and protecting the Maine lobster industry “got the best of me as I faced what I felt were unfair criticisms about my motives.”

Without the stricter size rules in place this summer, Maine will be out of compliance with the regional fishery commission’s lobster management plan. State regulators will have to come up with different rules to “achieve conservation benefits that are equivalent to those intended by this regulation,” the Department of Marine Resources said in an emailed statement Friday afternoon. Lobstermen will be involved in that process.

The fisheries commission allows states to take actions that differ from regulations, so long as they “achieve the same quantified level of conservation,” according to its charter. But determining whether alternative rules are truly equivalent is up to the relevant management board.

States must submit proposals for any equivalent standards they seek to implement, and they must prove that they can enforce those guidelines.

Keliher said Gov. Janet Mills approved his decision to withdraw the rule.

The multistate fishery commission was informed about the move Friday morning, according to spokesperson Tina Berger.

She said the next steps will likely be determined when the commission’s American Lobster board, which Keliher chairs, meets next month. It’s not clear whether he would need to recuse himself from discussions.

The board can order a state to come into compliance by a certain date. If a state fails to do so, the board can escalate its concerns to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which can set a new deadline or, possibly “close fishing for that species in that state’s waters,” Berger said.

“We’re not there yet. There’s a lot that can happen between now and July 1,” Berger said.

Berger said it was unusual for a member state to announce its intention to not to follow new regulations before they take effect. “It’s usually after the fact,” she said.

After Thursday’s meeting, representatives of the lobster industry in Maine praised the withdrawal.

Dustin Delano, a former lobsterman and chief operating officer of the New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association, said, “Maine lobstermen prevailed tonight as they pushed back against the increase to the minimum lobster gauge size in Lobster Management Area 1.”

Virginia Olsen, lobsterman and director of the Maine Lobstering Union, said in a statement that “our members are very happy that the lobster gauge increase has been shelved.”

Staff Writers Hannah LaClaire and Daniel Kool contributed reporting.