Maine’s largest lobster port looks to an uncertain future

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 19, 2022

Last year, Stonington pulled a record-setting $73 million worth of lobster — almost $18 million more than the next largest port. If fishing takes a downturn, Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings fears the town will too, accelerating a trajectory toward an economy that relies solely on tourism. So-called ropeless fishing gear doesn’t use the traditional lobster setup of a buoy at the surface connected to a trap by a fishing line. Instead, the traps can be called up on-demand using an inflatable bladder or a buoy-release system. But many lobstermen aren’t willing to test the gear out, feeling it gives a tacit endorsement that Maine lobstermen are the cause of the demise of the right whale — a claim they vehemently deny. For the few that are testing the gear out, there’s little willingness to publicly talk about it for fear of threats from fellow fishermen.