Maine's outgoing commissioner of marine resources is warning about the dire impacts of newly imposed tariffs on Canadian imports.
Maine sends about $200 million worth of lobster each year to Canada, where it's processed and sent back to the U.S. or to third markets.
Marine Resources Commission Pat Keliher said the tariffs could trigger major cuts in what Maine lobstermen are paid for their catch that could "cripple" the state's iconic fishery.
"The only way for this to be made up on the cost perspective is at the boat price," Keliher said Tuesday during an appearance on Maine Calling. "So I am very concerned that going into this year, that we are going to see all time low boat prices. And... with the declining volume of lobster, we will see, potentially hundreds of people going out of business because of these tariffs."
Maine's lobster harvest was down 10 million pounds in 2024 over the previous year, due in part, to a smaller stock.
In response to tariffs from President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a first round of tariffs on U.S. imports that went into effect Tuesday. Lobster was not on the list, but Trudeau has promised additional rounds of retaliatory tariffs.
Keliher said he also deeply concerned about staffing cuts through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency — which includes staff at the Northeast Science Fisheries Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts — was the target of layoffs as the Trump administration looks to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Keliher said he worries that with fewer staff, the science center won't be able to keep producing the stock assessments that the state's fisheries rely on.
"If we do not have strong science behind the management that we're trying to do, I'm afraid we'll never catch up," said Keliher, who is retiring from Maine DMR next week. "And I feel like we are going to be set back decades in the work we're doing to try to make decisions with the best available science. It's about the best available science, and I feel like the best available science is in jeopardy right now."
Federal funding also helped the Maine DMR launch a new right whale research program, which state officials advocated for as a way provide better data to federal regulatory debates and advocate for the lobster fishery.
"We got more done in the last four years with the pause with whales, with the money coming in for whales and with the money coming for habitat restoration more than we have in years and years," he said. "And the loss of that is concerning."
Keliher said he spoke with Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins about preserving these funds for Maine in the face of threats from the Trump administration.
The staffing cuts come as NOAA announced over the weekend that it would discontinue a four-year, $4.5 million award to the popular Maine Sea Grant program, which sponsors marine science and fisheries research initiatives around the state.
There are 33 other similar Sea Grant programs in coastal and Great Lakes states around the country. Yet only Maine appears to have had its funding revoked.
