Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision on Thursday and reinstated the protections. The lower court had ruled against a federal law banning lobster fishing in a 200-nautical-mile area off the New England coast from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually.
