Maine officials challenged a conclusion in a federal report on right whale protections, noting that regulators just awarded a grant to investigate the assumption.
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, Local & State
Lobstermen, environmentalists battle over right whale protections
The industry is willing to switch to easier-breaking rope to lower the chance of entanglements, but whale advocates say that doesn’t go far enough.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
Seed vendors take root at annual Maine Cannabis Convention
The number of people who want to grow their own marijuana at home has been going up as Maine struggles to develop a commercial market for recreational marijuana.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Politics
Gubernatorial candidates vow to back lobster industry in upcoming fight
Proposals to protect right whales, which will be unveiled next week, could hobble Maine’s most lucrative fishery.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Lobster industry blasts proposed regulations intended to protect whales
Officials say scientific data doesn’t support the proposals.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Maine Cannabis Report
Annual Maine pot convention offers bumper crop of cannabis expertise
The more than 30 speakers scheduled to appear in Portland over two days include the cultivation editor of High Times.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Defenders of endangered right whales pursue limits on aquaculture
The threat of entanglements extends beyond the lobster industry, say advocates, pointing to Maine’s rapidly growing farmed-fisheries sector.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Proposals to save right whales could drastically change lobstering
Regulators will meet next week to consider actions to preserve the threatened species, including a one-month closure of fishing zones and outlawing certain gear.
Posted inBusiness, Life & Culture, Local & State, Nation & World, News
Herring quota’s sting may lead Maine lobstermen to sit out next spring
Regulators’ proposal to slash the yearly figure by 80 percent has fishermen wondering if they’d be working just to cover bait costs.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Maine lobstermen say move to avert collapse of herring fishery will have dire consequences
Trawling bans and quota reductions being proposed by regulators will result in bait shortages that will cause prices to skyrocket, the lobstermen say.