‘Ropeless’ lobster gear could be put to test in area closed to protect right whales

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 2, 2022

An application to test innovative fishing gear throughout New England could get some Maine lobstermen back into a nearly 1,000-mile swathe of offshore fishing grounds for the first time since the implementation of a seasonal closure last year. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking a permit to work with fishermen to trial “ropeless” fishing gear. Ropeless fishing is a still-developing method of lobstering that is designed to cut down on the chances of endangered right whales getting tangled up in vertical fishing lines.