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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 6
February 2009
Max vs. Holmes: Whale entanglement case
BOSTON, MA – The lawsuit brought by whale protection crusader Max Strahan against Plymouth, MA lobsterman Dan Holmes went to trial in mid-December, nearly two years after it was originally filed.
US District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton presided over the four-day bench trial Dec. 15-18 in Boston. Gorton heard testimony from a half-dozen witnesses, including whale researcher Stormy Mayo of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and Dan McKiernan, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).
Strahan, the plaintiff, represented himself.
When Strahan initially filed the complaint on Feb. 27, 2007, he alleged Holmes had violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) based on reports that the lobsterman’s gear was removed from a humpback whale on Aug. 2, 2006.
According to DMF, the gear was properly set and configured. There was no mention in the disentanglement report of any injury to the whale.
Strahan initially demanded $1.1 million in compensation – $100,000 to compensate the whale and $1 million in punitive damages against Holmes.
Significance
This case is considered significant by industry advocates, DMF, and other observers because Strahan has publicly vowed to sue all the individual fishermen he can identify as having owned gear involved in whale or sea turtle entanglements.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, DMF, and disentanglement groups have declined to release that kind of information. However, Strahan has apparently obtained through the courts the identities of individual commercial and recreational fishermen associated with whale and turtle entanglements dating back to at least 1999.
“He wants to make his claim against the entire fishing industry,” said Holmes’ attorney Steven Broadley of the Boston law firm Posternak Blankstein & Lund LLP.
Industry support
The entire experience has been an emotional roller coaster ride for Dan Holmes.
“The hardest part of all this was, with everything else going on – fuel, bait, the price of lobsters – sometimes I’d wonder, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Holmes said. “But as soon as you get out on the water and that hauler gets going, you forget your problems and become a fisherman again.”
Holmes also has been buoyed by the support he’s received from the industry. The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) has assumed responsibility for his legal fees, and lobstermen, industry support businesses, and other fishermen have all contributed to the MLA legal defense fund.
“The guys have been super,” Holmes said. “A fisherman was in need and everyone, whether it was a good year or a bad year, sent in something. That was the silver lining in this experience, seeing industry come together. It was great.”
Lorelei Stevens
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