Congressman wants to halt aquarium money after lobster spat

By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A congressman from Maine says he will file a proposal to withhold federal money from a California aquarium and conservation group that has recommended seafood consumers avoid buying lobster. The move from Democratic Rep. Jared Golden came a week after a spat with Republican former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, who called on Golden to return a donation of $667 from the executive director of Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. The aquarium runs Seafood Watch, a conservation group that put lobster from the U.S. and Canada on its “red list” of seafood to avoid. It has defended that decision, citing the threat posed to rare whales by entanglement in fishing gear.