Tag Archives: trap limits

Efforts Underway to Reduce Lobster Fishing Gear to Help Rare Whale

Interstate fishing managers are starting the process of trying to reduce the amount of lobster fishing gear off the East Coast in an attempt to help save a declining species of rare whale. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced this month that it would consider options designed to reduce vertical lobster fishing lines in the water by as much as 40 percent. The commission said it would try to reduce the amount of gear with a combination of trap limits, seasonal closures, changes to gear configuration and other methods. The rules are under development and it will take months before they come up for public hearings. >click to read<10:45

With Trap War Brewing, Maine Department Of Marine Resources Implements Limits For Lobster Trawls

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is imposing a new five-trap limit for lobster trawlers in an area around Mt. Desert Rock, about 6 miles off Frenchboro. The limit will go into effect starting in October.,,, “I’m troubled when an industry creates conflicts among themselves, and we couldn’t work it out, and to me it’s one of the problems with the zone system,” said Keliher. “You have more effort in [Zone] C, and that effort needs a place to go, and they are moving into other areas. That creates a trap-density problem, and as soon as you have a trap-density problem, you have social problems. And those sometimes lead to enforcement problems.” >click to read<12:52