The End of the Bottom Line Project: Final Groundline Exchange for All Fishermen



Maine lobstermen and other fixed-gear fishermen will have one final opportunity to exchange their used floating groundline for vouchers to purchase the required replacement rope. GOMLF will hold rope exchanges in Ellsworth (August 24) and Waldoboro (August 25), with a possible date in Portland to be announced.

Sinking groundlines or tailer warps, which are more expensive than floating groundlines, are required in many areas to comply with the federal regulation aimed at reducing the entanglement potential for large whales.

In the spring of 2010, GOMLF had announced the final opportunity for fishermen to exchange their floating groundlines through the Bottom Line Project. However, during those rope exchanges held in April and May, only half the anticipated fishermen participated, so funds remain for one final round of rope collections. Maine lobstermen and other fishermen who use fixed gear with floating groundline, such as crab and shrimp, hagfish, and gillnet gear, are invited to participate.

The August rope collection marks the final groundline exchange for Maine fishermen and the end of the Bottom Line Project, a multi-year rope exchange program where roughly 9500 miles (1.8 million pounds) of floating groundlines and tailer warps have been removed from the ocean. Through this federally funded program, nearly 1,100 Maine lobstermen have received over $2.6 million in vouchers to assist in the purchase of the more expensive replacement sink rope.

Since 2009, all of the collected float rope has been used to make woven doormats and other creative products; twenty thousand pounds was used by a New York City artist to create a sculpture at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. None of the rope has been brought to a landfill.

Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (GOMLF), a Maine-based non-profit which collaborates with lobstermen and scientists on industry-based research projects, encourages interested eligible fishermen to register for this final groundline exchange. For more information on the Bottom Line Project, visit www.gomlf.org or contact Laura Ludwig at the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, 207-985-8088.