Sacre Bleu: Environmentally Suspect Maine Lobsters To Be Served at White House State Dinner

America’s first lady is describing Thursday night’s red, white, and blue-themed state dinner as a celebration of the shared values of America and France, embodied in a sumptuous repast. Yet the 200 lobsters to be consumed in the first course are fruit de mer non grata to two environmental groups that claim Maine lobstermen are putting North American right whales in danger of extinction.Maybe let them eat shrimp instead?Seafood Watch, a 20-year-long project of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, gave the Maine fisheries a “red rating” in its annual review this year because the lobstermen use vertical lines that can ensnare the whales. The rating encourages distributors and consumers “to take a pass” on red-rated species as they are “caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.”The list carries considerable weight among socially conscious and environmentally minded chefs and consumers — except, apparently, for the meal planners in President Biden’s White House.The Marine Stewardship Council announced it will suspend the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s certificate of sustainability, effective December 15. Gulf of Maine lobster will not be eligible to be sold as MSC-certified sustainable, or carry the MSC blue fish ecolabel on products.Whole Foods banned Maine lobsters after the MSC announcement. Meal-kit companies HelloFresh and Blue Apron had previously announced a suspension of Maine lobster in their delivery services. On Thursday, Maine’s Republican senator, Susan Collins, criticized Whole Foods for its decision. “Delicious, sustainable Maine lobster is an excellent choice for the main course for the president’s first State Dinner,” she tweeted. “If Maine lobster is good enough for the White House to serve, it’s good enough for every seafood retailer—including Whole Foods—to sell.” The aquarium explained its rating by saying it is in line with a U.S. District Court ruling in July in a case in which conservation groups sued the Maine Lobsterman’s Association and the commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, whose agency oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service, for violating the Marine Mammal Protection acts.The court ruled that the fisheries service did not provide adequate explanation for how it met the protection act’s “negligible impact” requirement. The ruling means the fisheries service must go back and write an environmental impact statement. However, the intent notice for the impact statement calls for reducing the risk of whale entanglements by more than 90 percent. The lobsterman association has said that number would effectively kill the $2 billion a year industry. In a letter to the aquarium, Maine’s four-member congressional delegation and Governor Mills called the Seafood Watch rating a “reckless piece of activism” that will damage “the single most valuable fishery in the United States.” “You have appointed yourself Judge, Jury, and Executioner of the Maine lobster industry — ignoring clear facts, and not meeting even the most basic burden of proof before coming to a conclusion,” they wrote.In response, the aquarium’s executive director, Julie Packard, and vice president for global ocean conservation, Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly, wrote that it will maintain its “red ratings” for all Canadian and U.S. fisheries that use vertical lines. “NOAA determined that current Canadian and U.S. approaches would allow impacts from fishing entanglement to continue at levels at least five times higher than the North Atlantic right whale population could withstand,” they wrote. The White House’s decision to serve the Maine lobster despite the rating earned conflicting responses from Maine’s lawmakers. “If the Biden White House can prioritize purchasing 200 Maine lobsters for a fancy dinner, @POTUS should also take the time to meet with the Maine lobstermen his administration is currently regulating out of business,” Representative Jared Golden, a Democrat representing Maine’s largest geographical district, tweeted.“Glad @POTUS and @EmmanuelMacron are supporting Maine lobstermen and the thousands of small businesses that work our waters. There is no better meal than sustainable, delicious Maine [lobster] to represent our country on the world stage,” Senator King, an independent of Maine, tweeted.During the evening’s dinner, the White House will also serve calotte of beef, made famous in America by Thomas Keller, owner of Michelin-star French restaurants Per Se and French Laundry. Cattle farming has also been criticized for its environmental impact and sustainability. The White House has not stated the origin of its beef course.

Sacre Bleu: Environmentally Suspect Maine Lobsters To Be Served at White House State Dinner

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