>>Fishermen's Voice Monthly Newspaper, Gouldsboro Maine

Tenants Harbor. Hart Ledges and the Southern bell buoy are marked with crosses. The circles around them mark the areas from which 50% of the traps were removed in the trap density study. DMR Image

At first, Tenants Harbor fishermen resisted the idea of removing lobster traps from two fertile fishing grounds. But multiple meetings and a better understanding of the purpose of a trap density experiment led to what may be a revealing study, sponsors said.

And even if the study isn’t helpful, the process of getting fishermen together may pay off, as men and women talked about their work and the need for cooperation to protect both the resource and their livelihood.

The Tenants Harbor trap density experiment is a 4 week collaborative project involving voluntary cooperation by fishermen with state marine officials and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service/Sea Grant. “This experiment brought the harbor fishermen together to begin thinking as a group instead of as individuals,” said Sherman Hoyt of St.George, a coordinator of the project.

Hoyt, a former lobsterman who works for the University of Maine through its Sea Grant program, said with lobster prices bottoming out, this was a tough year to sell a trap-study scheme. But the experiment may help determine how fishing methods in an area effect fishermen and the lobster population.

Results of the study won’t be available until later this fall, but conclusions could influence policy decisions. The point of the study was to look at trap density and the impacts of reducing trap density.

The biggest fear for Tenants Harbor lobsterman, Hoyt said, is that the study might somehow be used against them, cutting their already dwindling profit margin.

“It’s been an exceptionally difficult year. People in Tenants Harbor were saying, we’ve got to do something different. We’re not making any money,” Hoyt said. Even so, Hoyt and Maine Department of Marine Resources biologist Carl Wilson initially faced hostility from fishermen when they proposed removing 50 percent of traps from two areas: Hart Ledges and the Southern Island bell buoy.

Wilson said some 15 lobstermen eventually agreed to participate in the study after accepting the offer of a financial incentive. Lobstermen were paid $2 per day, per trap, to move the traps to another area where they could continue to fish with them. At $28 per trap for the two-week period of the experiment, a lobsterman could make $2,800 for moving 100 traps.

Wilson said the study aimed at reducing gear in the two designated areas by 50 percent. Participating fishermen were asked to keep a log of their fishing activity and observations for the month of August, including number of traps set and number of pounds of lobsters caught. They looked at the areas before, during removal and after the two week removal.

Funds for the experiment came from a federal grant to the Department of Marine Resources, and a private Maine-based foundation.

Hoyt assisted the coordination of the experiment, as did Sarah Coitnoir, area manager for the Department of Marine Resources. Wilson, lead lobster biologist based in West Boothbay Harbor, was responsible for design and implementation. Wilson has been assisted by two sea samplers: Hannah Wheeler, communications coordinator for the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, and Gillian Garatt-Reed, marine programs coordinator for the Island Institute. Wheeler’s position is funded through the institute’s Island Fellows program, and both she and Garatt-Reed live in St.George.

More meetings with fishermen to discuss trap density are anticipated. “I see this continuing into the future and I remain committed to it,” Hoyt said.