Green groups targeting blue collar lobsters are mostly financed with dark money.

The environmental groups that have led the lawsuits against the lobster fishing industry have been heavily funded by various liberal dark money groups that do not disclose their individual sponsors, a review of Fox News Digital’s tax returns has shown.

The organizations — the Center for Biological Diversity, the Legislative Conservation Fund (CLF), and Wildlife Advocates — first filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2018, alleging that a rule issued by the agency years earlier was not properly protect endangered whales in the North Atlantic from lobster fishing equipment. In April 2020, a federal judge ruled in favor of the groups, ordering the NMFS to impose tighter restrictions.

“Google whales have been entangled and dying in lobster rigs for too long,” Kristen Monsel, director of the oceans forensic program at the Center for Biological Diversity, said at the time. “This decision sends a clear message that federal officials must protect these endangered animals from more painful and deadly situations before it’s too late.”

As a result of this decision, the Biden administration passed new regulations on lobster fishing equipment in May 2021. A coalition of environmental groups then filed another lawsuit challenging the new rule, and in July 2022 again received a positive decision from a federal court. CLF Senior Associate Arika Fuller welcomed the decision, saying it made it clear that “fisheries managers need to do more to protect” the whales.

MAINE LOBSTERS WARN BIDEN ADMIN IS TRYING TO GET THEM OUT OF BUSINESS WITH TOUGH ENVIRONMENTAL RULES

Lobsters bait a lobster trap while fishing off the coast of South Portland, Maine.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bucati)

However, as a result of the litigation and tightening of regulations, Maine lawmakers and business leaders have said thousands of lobster fishing jobs are at risk. The updated NMFS limits say fixed gear fishing, such as the Maine lobster fishery, should reduce the risk to whales by a staggering 98%. The first restrictions were introduced in May, with new restrictions planned for December 2024 and 2030.

“Friendship, Maine is the name of the city where I grew up and live now, and where all previous generations in my family fished and worked,” fourth-generation lobster fisher Dustin Delano told FOX Business. December. “Essentially the lobster industry is the backbone – everything was built around that and it’s pretty much the only option we have. Without him, I don’t think there would be much left.”

Biden’s EPA has coordinated with left-wing environmental groups linked to the liberal dark money network.

Overall, the Maine lobster industry, which is made up entirely of small business operators by state law, supplies the US with about 90% of the nation’s lobster supply, making the industry main economic driver in the state, as well as stimulating other related industries. In 2021, the Maine lobster fishery generated $724.9 million in revenue, the largest amount in the state’s history.

Pictured is the Bridges family, which includes fourth, fifth and sixth generation lobsters from Corea, Maine. Brian Bridges says if he can’t sell lobsters, it will create “extreme hardship” for his family.
(Cheryl Clegg / Photography by Sheryl Clegg)

According to Fox News Digital’s review of tax returns, the three groups that have waged lawsuits pushing for tighter restrictions on the industry have a long history of receiving funding from left-wing groups with unknown wealthy sponsors.

For example, the Center for Biological Diversity has received millions of dollars from left-wing dark money groups, including the Rockefeller Family Foundation, the Patagonia Foundation, and the Pew Charities. The center has received nearly $8 million in grants from the Sandler Foundation, $1 million from the Wilberforce Foundation, $850,000 from Environment Now, and another $815,000 from the Frankel Family Foundation, according to Influence Watch.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO MADE GRANTS THROUGH THE DARK MONEY GROUP TO FUND CLIMATE RELATED LEGAL ACTIONS,

One of the early benefactors of the Center for Biological Diversity was the Wyss Foundation, an organization founded by liberal Swiss billionaire donor Hansjörg Wyss. According to The New York Times, the foundation transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group, and Wyss promised her $10 million.

In the last decade alone, the group’s annual income, which is primarily made up of grants and donations, has grown over 300% to $27.3 million.

Hansjörg Wyss attends a charity event in New York in 2015.
(Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Oceana)

Meanwhile, the CLF received grants from the Rockefeller Family Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and dozens of other foundations. The Boston group has also accepted money from businesses and other organizations, including Facebook, the Schwab charity, and the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation.

In 2017, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave $4.3 million to the CLF.

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And Defenders of the Wild has received funding from the Wyss Foundation and the George Soros Open Society Foundations. In 2018, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation awarded the group a $4 million grant.

In addition, Defenders of the Wild received $1.3 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which provided grants for endangered species protection projects and for a moratorium on offshore fossil fuel drilling.

The Center for Biological Diversity, CLF and Defenders of Wildlife did not respond to requests for comment.