Despite calls for ‘ropeless’ fishing gear, Maine lobstermen have doubts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 14, 2021

The elimination of fishing lines that run from lobster traps on the Gulf of Maine’s seafloor to marker buoys on the water’s surface is increasingly being sought as a way to help save the estimated 336 endangered North Atlantic right whales left in the world. But Maine lobstermen are skeptical. Lobster industry officials say that the technology currently isn’t commercially viable and questioned if it’s really necessary in Maine, where whale sightings are rare. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned federal fishing regulators last week to require trap fisheries to convert to ropeless gear within the next five years.