MAINE PUBLIC • September 8, 2021
Last week the federal government issued its long-awaited set of regulations— including a switch to ropeless traps — that aim to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from deadly entanglements in fishing gear. There are fewer than 370 of the animals left on the planet, and federal regulators have a goal to quickly reduce their risk of entanglement. Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, says some 967-square miles of fishing grounds in federal waters off the mid-coast will now be closed from October to January. He says those fisherman will likely seek out new territory. “When they move, they're going to go find another area to fish, and people are already going to be there. It creates social problems. Is there going to be enough room for them?” Zack Klyver, with the group Blue Planet Strategies, has a different view on the issue. “If you could remove one inline and put a ropeless unit…you automatically have a 50% reduction in line. That's a huge conservation savings and allows them to continue to fish.”