PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 23, 2021
Once again, Maine’s congressional delegation is shamefully attempting to block protections for North Atlantic right whales, which, as many readers will have heard, are now teetering on the brink of extinction. Shouldn’t they instead be working to help bring about solutions to this crisis? There are over a million active vertical buoy lines for trap-pot gear in waters the right whale inhabits, and it is these lines which so frequently entangle them. New ropeless fishing technology, which is being developed and tested, will eliminate the need for vertical buoy lines, thereby greatly reducing the risk of entanglement. Transitioning to this gear will be a win for whales, fishermen and the rest of us. ~ Russell Wray, volunteer with Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats, Hancock