New federal rule was being implemented to help prevent whales from getting entangled in lobster fishing gear. Now the authorities are looking for another change to limit the lobster of 800 traps per fisherman in Maine be reduced. Whales advocates say that though the federal government now requires fishermen to use sinking groundlines between the traps they set in a line on the ocean bottom, the ropes that connect these multitrap trawls to buoys that float at the surface still pose an entanglement threat.
It is inform that a reduction in the trap limit also could help fishermen get more bang for their buck by reducing expenses and making their efforts more efficient, environmentalists have argued. Fewer traps to set and haul means less money spent on bait and gas. Jon Carter, a fisherman from Bar Harbor and a member of the state’s lobster advisory council, disagrees. Carter noted that Canadian lobstermen fish about half as many traps during a shorter season, but he expressed doubt that their expenses are any less than his.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources has taken the position that it opposes trap limit reductions as a means of addressing the whale issue because traps by themselves don’t pose a threat to whales. It is informed that the state already has done some research that suggests it is possible to dramatically reduce the number of traps in a given area without having a similarly drastic reduction in the number of lobsters caught.
Carl Wilson, chief lobster scientist for DMR, conducted an experiment in the fall of 2005 in the closed waters off Monhegan. He told that the experiment was aimed at testing the catch rates of different trap densities around the island. In areas that each covered approximately 1 square nautical mile, Wilson and participating fishermen set traps in groups of 50, 150 and 500. Each trap was hauled every four days over a six-week period in September and October.
Wilson opined that the results are very compelling and I have no problem defending what we found. Scott Kraus, vice president of research for New England Aquarium in Boston, and Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, each attended a meeting earlier this month in Providence where the issue of trap limits was discussed.
