The state’s biggest lobster trade group says the concessions sought by the state are out of proportion with the risk the industry poses to endangered right whales.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Posted inBusiness
Goodbye herring, hello squid: Fishermen’s catch likely to change in warming Gulf of Maine
Maine fishermen will have to optimize their gear and travel farther to catch warmer-water species by mid-century, research shows.
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Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Lobster industry split over whale protection plan called Maine’s ‘line in the sand’
Maine’s top fishing regulator says the state may end up in court if federal officials reject its proposal.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Lobstermen at Ellsworth whale meeting ask state to resist federal pressure
But Patrick Keliher, the commissioner of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, says Maine’s proposal shows that the state is managing the fishery and protecting endangered right whales.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Maine finally ready to take applications for marijuana businesses
The Office of Marijuana Policy announced it will begin accepting applications for growing, manufacturing and retailing on Dec. 5, one of the few remaining steps before the recreational market opens in March.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Lobster industry braces for right whale changes amid turbulent times
The state will hold industry meetings this week on its proposal to protect endangered right whales before submitting a final plan to federal fishing regulators in mid-November.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Maine Cannabis Report
New federal hemp program expected to help growing Maine industry
Approved farmers will be eligible for key federal agriculture assistance, including farm loans and insurance, in 2020.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Maine lobster landings ‘are way off,’ down 40% from last year
Fishermen had landed less than 50 million pounds by the end of September, a 38% decline from the 5-year average. The state’s top fishing regulator says ‘that doesn’t mean the sky is falling.’
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Former Portland deputy chief now in charge of Maine’s cannabis compliance
Vern Malloch, who served 35 years in the Portland Police Department, is the first director of compliance in Maine’s newly created Office of Marijuana Policy.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Maine Cannabis Report
Out-of-state hemp now allowed in Maine CBD market
For one month, Maine hemp farmers had the state’s CBD-infused food market to themselves, but a law change has reopened it to out-of-state growers.