NEFSA to Congress: Stop Giving Foreign Fleets A Leg Up Over American Fishermen

June 3, 2025

Washington, D.C. (June 3, 2025) — American fishermen are going to Congress to warn lawmakers that American fishermen are losing out to Canadian competitors thanks to unfair rules, amid a spike in tensions between the two countries. 

Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and a fourth-generation lobsterman, is scheduled to testify Wednesday (June 4) before the House Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. Among other issues, Delano will explain that American and Canadian vessels are bound by different rules, even when they are fishing the same areas. As a result, U.S. fishermen make less money, resources are depleted, and conservation objectives fail.

Read an excerpt from Delano's testimony below: 

“American fishermen remain bound by stringent U.S. conservation regulations. Canadian fishermen are not. Thus, American fishermen work the same waters as their Canadian counterparts at an unfair disadvantage while Canadian vessels exploit looser rules. The result is a one-sided depletion of resources that U.S. policy was designed to protect. In other words, American fishermen suffer all the collateral damage of overregulation, while the sustainability purpose of the regulation is entirely thwarted.” 

Canadian ground fishermen enjoy many advantages thanks to American regulations. Canadian fishermen land higher yields per trawl owing to regulatory restrictions on mesh size. Canadian fishermen can trawl with a 5.2-square-inch mesh, while American fishermen in the Gulf of Maine are restricted to a 6.5-square-inch diamond mesh. While the differential sounds small, at only 1.3 inches, the practical difference is enormous. The smaller mesh lands a much higher yield.

Canadian lobstermen have also benefited from a contested fishing area known as the “gray zone.” The gray zone is an area of 277 square miles off the coast of Maine and Canada claimed by both countries since the Revolutionary War. For years, the contested waters produced a modest lobster catch; now there is an abundance of lobster. In the gray zone, Americans must toss back any lobster with a carapace longer than five inches. Canadians have no such limits. Canadians can catch “jumbo” lobsters while Americans cannot. Canadians will continue to dominate the market while they catch the most popular lobster without interference. 

NEFSA is thankful for the opportunity to present these critical concerns to the House Committee on Natural Resources. It is time for Congress to level the playing field and ensure U.S. regulations no longer put American fishermen at a competitive disadvantage to Canada.