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The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (GOMLF) will conduct The Bottom Line Project, a voluntary groundline rope exchange program, to help Maine lobstermen comply with upcoming federal whale regulations. GOMLF, a small Maine-based non-profit organization that involves lobstermen in collaborative research, has been awarded nearly $2 million in federal funds to help fishermen defray the costs of converting from floating groundlines to sinking line. The Final Whale Rule which will outline exact requirements and implementation date is expected to be released this winter by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Polypropylene rope (a.k.a. float rope or poly) used in the commercial lobster industry has been implicated in the entanglement of large whales such as the North Atlantic Right Whale in the Gulf of Maine. According to federal fisheries managers, replacing floating groundlines (the rope linking traps together) with sinking line may mitigate the threat of whale entanglement in lobster gear. Sink rope is heavier and more expensive than the float rope preferred by many lobstermen, and it typically does not hold up as well in the conditions off much of Maine’s coast, namely a rough and rocky ocean floor and strong currents. Sink rope by definition is prone to hang down in rocky bottom, making it more dangerous to haul and resulting in increased gear loss. For lobstermen who feel they can operate with sink rope on their groundlines and who want to take advantage of the economic assistance, the voluntary Bottom Line Project will get underway in Spring 2007. Maine commercial lobstermen who drop off their poly rope at a collection site will receive a voucher to be used toward the purchase of sink rope at participating rope vendors. The value of the voucher will in part be determined by the estimated amount of poly rope to be collected and the number of participating lobstermen. GOMLF has mailed a survey and registration card to all commercial Maine lobstermen, which asks them to approximate how much float rope they will bring in to recycle. Survey response will help determine the number and location of rope collection sites along the Maine coast. All lobstermen are strongly encouraged to fill out the survey. Up to one million pounds of used float rope will be collected and recycled during the first year of the program. The cost of switching from floating to sinking groundlines will increase over the long-term as rope needs to be replaced, and GOMLF plans to seek future funding for similar economic relief. For more information on the Bottom Line Project or to see the groundline survey, visit www.gomlf.org or contact Laura Ludwig at the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, 207-263-5300. |
