CASTINE (AP) — The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it will add a small area in the mouth of the Penobscot River to a zone that is closed to lobster and crab fishing.
State officials say the closure is in response to data gathered after the Penobscot River Mercury Study, which was ordered by a federal court. Officials say mercury levels were elevated enough to warrant expanding the closed area.
The rules take effect on Tuesday and extend the southern boundary of the closure to an area between Squaw Point on Cape Jellison and Perkins Point in Castine.
State officials say the additional closure adds 5.5 square miles to what had been a seven square mile closure. Lobsters are harvested in more than 14,000 square miles of the Gulf of Maine.
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