Tag Archives: Ropeless traps
Here’s how activists use lobstermen as bait to endanger Maine industry, communities
Far left activists are exploiting the recent death of an endangered whale to imperil the future of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery. These organizations have poor command of the facts and no knowledge of our industry. Their agitating imperils our fishery and the working communities that depend on it. Organizations like the National Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation and others are exploiting this event to pressure regulators to impose new rules. These organizations are restless and can claim some success. A self-styled watchdog called Seafood Watch convinced Whole Foods to stop stocking Maine lobster products late in 2022. 3 Videos, more, >>click to read<< By Dustin Delano 16:12
Maine: Lobstermen support better science to help right whales
The historical record of Maine lobstermen is clear.One right whale entangled in 2004 was disentangled and swam free. No right whale death has ever been attributed to Maine lobster gear. Gov. Janet Mills and our congressional delegation, without partisanship, acknowledge Maine lobstermen are not a threat to the right whale population. Despite never having seen one in the 50 years I’ve fished; I’ve made multiple changes to make my gear more whale friendly. These changes have been time-consuming, expensive, and potentially dangerous to me and my crew but resulted in less rope in the water. >click to read< 11:52
Emergency Petition! Awaiting Court-Ordered Help, Enviro’s Want Ban on Some Lobster Traps, pushing newer ropeless traps
“We filed this petition because it is an emergency situation,” Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity,,, Monsell and colleagues brought a lawsuit against the federal government in 2018, challenging how it has managed lobster fishing and arguing for better right whale protections. In April, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue new regulations by the end of May of 2021. In the interim, the petitioners say it’s necessary to ban vertical lines. That could happen without banning lobster fishing outright, since newer, ropeless traps don’t pose the same risks to the whales. >click to read< 07:12
Emergency Petition Seeks to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales From Fishing Gear – >click to read<
Today, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, along with our coalition partners,,, >click to read<
Like chasing unicorns?!! – Ropeless traps not easy for crabbers testing them in whale-protection effort
New Brunswick snow crab fishermen have been testing a ropeless trap system to reduce the use of fishing rope, which has been blamed in some of the deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales. “The main problem with the ropeless gear … is that it was given way too much credit for what it can, at this time, achieve for the snow crab fishery,” Robert Haché, director general of the Acadian Crabbers Association, said in an interview.,, The ropeless traps, developed by California-based Desert Star System, are already used by fishermen in New Zealand and Australia. >click to read< 08:18
Ropeless traps could help mitigate right whale deaths, says U.S. scientist
A U.S. scientist is working on trying to stop right whale entanglements with fishing gear, which garnered increased attention after a spate of deaths this past summer. Mark Baumgartner, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., has been studying North Atlantic right whales since 1999.,, One of the problems is that modern ropes are much stronger and last longer than they used to be and don’t break as easily when they come into contact with large sea animals. click here to read the story 13:49
Whale-safe Fishing Gear – New buoy for lobster traps could prevent entanglements click here to read the story
