PORTLAND (AP) — Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says the Coast Guard has rescinded a rule that prohibited lobstermen from fishing the waters around a remote Maine island.
Pingree said Wednesday that Coast Guard officials told her they withdrew a rule that went into effect last week that made waters around Seal Island off-limits because of unexploded ordnance from the days when the Navy used the island as an aerial bombing range.
Pingree said the Coast Guard withdrew the rule because the risk is unknown and the economic impact on fishermen is greater than first thought.
Seal Island is located 20 miles off the Maine coast and is fished by more than 30 lobstermen from nearby Vinalhaven. The Navy used the island as a bombing range from the 1940s until the early 1960s.
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