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u.s. news Diabierna 9 September 2022

Retailers pull lobster from menus after 'red list' warning

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) food buying decisions, and Atlantic right whales number
— Some retailers are tak- many have pledged to avoid less than 340 and entangle-
ing lobster off the menu any items that appear on the ment is one of the two big-
after an assessment from red list. A spokesperson for gest threats they face, along
an influential conserva- Blue Apron, the New York with collisions with ships,
tion group that the sea- meal kit retailer, said after scientists with the National
food poses too much of the release of the report that Oceanic and Atmospheric
a risk to rare whales and the company no longer of- Administration and other
should be avoided. fers lobster. HelloFresh, the groups have said. The popu-
Germany-based meal kit lation of the giant animals,
Whales can suffer injuries company that is the largest which were decimated dur-
and fatalities when they be- such company operating in ing the commercial whaling
come entangled in the gear the U.S., also pledged shortly era generations ago, has fallen
that connects to lobster traps after the announcement to in recent years.
on the ocean floor. Seafood stop selling lobster.
Watch, which rates the sus- Members of the lobster fish-
tainability of different sea- Seafood Watch assigns rat- ing industry, which is also
foods, said this week it has ings of "best choice," "good coping with increased federal products such as lobster
added the American and Ca- alternative" and "avoid" to fishing restrictions to pro- rolls and lobster ravioli. The Seafood Watch partners with
nadian lobster fisheries to its more than 2,000 seafood tect the whales, pushed back vast majority of the world's numerous major seafood
"red list" of species to avoid. items based on how sustain- against the Seafood Watch American lobster comes to buyers on its recommenda-
ably they are managed. The rating. The lobster industry the shore in New England tions. Some of the buyers,
The organization, based at organization's recommenda- in Maine, where most of the and eastern Canada, and the such as Compass Group and
Monterey Bay Aquarium in tions have been influential in U.S.'s lobster comes to land, crustaceans are both a key Cheesecake Factory, did not
California, said in a report the past, such as when it red- has not had a documented piece of the economy and a respond to requests for com-
that the fishing industry is listed the Louisiana shrimp interaction with a right whale cultural marker in both plac- ment from The Associated
a danger to North Atlantic fishery, prompting efforts to in almost two decades, said es. Press. A spokesperson for
right whales because "current better protect sea turtles. The Patrice McCarron, executive one, Mars Petcare, said the
management measures do fishery was later removed director of the Maine Lob- The U.S. lobster fishery is company doesn't have lobster
not go far enough to mitigate from the red list. stermen's Association. also one of the most lucrative in its supply chain.
entanglement risks and pro- in the country and was worth
mote recovery of the species." The lobster fishing indus- American and Canadian more than $900 million at Environmental groups said
try has come under scrutiny lobster fishermen target the the docks in 2021, when fish- Seafood Watch's decision
Thousands of businesses from Seafood Watch because same species, the American ermen caught more than 130 places a spotlight on the fish-
use Seafood Watch's recom- of the threat of entanglement lobster, which is popular as million pounds (59 million ery and the need to do more
mendations to inform sea- in fishing gear. The North live seafood and in processed kilograms) of the crustaceans. to protect whales.

Bannon pleads not guilty in 'We Build the Wall' scheme

NEW YORK (AP) — For- later charged by the Manhat- case, before acquittal or con- But New York Attorney Gen-
mer President Donald tan district attorney's office Manhattan District Attorney viction, negating any double eral Letitia James, whose of-
Trump's longtime ally for the same alleged conduct. Alvin Bragg said that after jeopardy argument. fice worked with Manhattan
Steve Bannon pleaded Bannon was pardoned, Man- prosecutors on the case, said
not guilty Thursday to Manhattan prosecutors say hattan prosecutors decided Arriving at the Manhat- it was about holding "power-
duping donors who gave that while Bannon prom- they had to hold him ac- tan district attorney's office ful political interests" to ac-
money to build a wall on ised all donations would go countable because the alleged shortly after 9 a.m. Thurs- count.
the U.S. southern border to building the wall, he was scheme ripped off hundreds day, Bannon said it was "an
— a state-level reboot of involved in transferring hun- of Manhattan residents. irony" that New York City's In 2020, federal agents pulled
a federal case that ended dreds of thousands of dollars mayor has been objecting Bannon from a luxury yacht
with a presidential pardon to third-party entities and Bannon's New York charges to busloads of migrants sent off the Connecticut coast and
last year. used them to funnel pay- stem from the same alleged to the city from Texas while arrested him on charges he
ments to two other people conduct as an attempted fed- prosecutors "are persecuting pocketed more than $1 mil-
Bannon, 68, was released involved in the scheme. eral prosecution that ended people here, that try to stop lion in donations to the wall-
without bail after his arraign- abruptly, before trial, when them at the border." building effort. In all, more
ment on charges including The indictment didn't iden- Trump pardoned Bannon on than $25 million was raised,
money laundering, conspir- tify those people by name, his last day in office. Manhat- Earlier, Bannon accused prosecutors said.
acy and fraud related to the but the details match those tan prosecutors also charged Bragg of pursuing "phony
"We Build the Wall" cam- of Brian Kolfage and Andrew WeBuildTheWall, Inc., the charges" against him, saying In that case, federal prosecu-
paign. He is the second per- Badolato, who pleaded guilty nonprofit entity that Bannon the Democratic prosecutor tors alleged Bannon and his
son pardoned by Trump and to federal charges in April. and his former co-defendants targeted him ahead of No- co-defendants capitalized on
used to solicit donations. The vember's midterm elections public fervor over border se-
company pleaded not guilty because he and his radio show curity — a pillar of Trump's
Thursday. are popular among Trump's presidential campaign — and
Republican supporters. tricked thousands of people
Presidential pardons apply into thinking 100% of their
only to federal crimes, not Bannon, in a statement Tues- donations would go to build-
state offenses. Last year, the day, said federal prosecutors ing a wall along the 1,933-
Manhattan district attorney's "did the exact same thing in mile (3,110-kilometer) U.S.-
office charged Ken Kurson, a August 2020 to try to take me Mexico line.
friend of Trump's son-in-law out of the election," refer-
Jared Kushner, with cyber- ring to his arrest months be- Instead, according to federal
stalking months after Trump fore Trump's reelection loss. prosecutors, Bannon used
pardoned him in a similar "This is nothing more than a some of the money to pay
federal case. partisan political weaponiza- personal expenses for himself
tion of the criminal justice and a secret salary to Kolfage,
Like Bannon, Kurson was system." a "We Build the Wall" co-
pardoned early in his federal founder.