According to NOAA Fisheries Service the “Haddock Rope Trawl” is to be known as the “Ruhle Trawl” as of September 9, 2008. It is told that the new name derived from the name Captain Phil Ruhle, Sr., as he was a significant contributor in the gear’s development. With this announcement the use of the Ruhle Trawl was authorized by Northeast multispecies vessels fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Management Area starting on September 15, 2008.
It is told that in 2007, Captain Ruhle was recognized along with David Beutel and Laura Scrobe from the University of Rhode Island, and fellow fishermen James O’Grady and Phil Ruhle, Jr., as the grand prize winners of the 2007 World Wildlife Fund’s International Smart Gear Competition. The award credited this team for designing the new trawl, developed under the copyrighted name “The Eliminator,” which proved highly effective at reducing bycatch.
Captain Ruhle was presented Environmental Hero Award in 2003 by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for his time and effort while participating in comparative trawl testing with the R/V ALBATROSS IV. It is said that on July 23, 2008, Captain Ruhle perished when his fishing vessel, the F/V SEA BREEZE, capsized and sank off New Jersey. Renaming the new gear the uhle Trawl is to honor Captain Ruhle as a significant contributor to the development of this gear and an innovator in the fishing industry.
