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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 32 Number 12
July 2005
ME hires Robbins as whale gear specialist to develop low profile groundline
WEST BOOTHBAY HARBOR, ME - Maine lobstermen could be faced with a requirement to eliminate the use of floating rope in their groundlines in the next few years.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing that all groundlines be made of “sinking and/or neutrally buoyant” line by 2008 in its proposed rule implementing modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.
Such an requirement would be a serious hardship for lobstermen in many parts of the coast who rely on floating rope to avoid trap hang downs on the rocky bottom with hard running tides where they fish.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is working on several fronts to have a conservation plan in place for meeting new ALWTRP requirements, while also providing lobstermen with gear options so they can continue to fish, said Terry Stockwell, DMR’s resource coordinator.
The state and NMFS have a new formal cooperative agreement that gives DMR authority for protective resources. The agreement brings the state to the table as a player while also making funding available for the whale risk reduction work that needs to be done, according to Stockwell.
One of the immediate projects is the development of a new kind of rope that would have some flotation but also maintain a low profile on bottom to reduce the entanglement risk to whales.
The DMR had already begun work with several rope manufacturers, but progress had been slow going, Stockwell said, since he and Laura Ludwig, DMR’s whale coordinator, had only limited time to devote to the effort.
Now that project can take off. With funding from a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant, the DMR created the staff position of Large Whale Plan gear specialist. The money comes from NFWF’s National Whale Conservation Fund.
Stephen Robbins III of Stonington was hired in early June as the DMR’s whale gear specialist. His role is industry outreach and his first priority will be working with lobstermen to perfect the design of low profile rope.
“I’m really excited to have someone with Stevie’s fishing experience for this gear position,” Stockwell said. “He can help think through the realities of both inshore and offshore needs, and be the reality check that can be missing.”
Robbins has lobstered in the Gulf of Maine, first as crew aboard the 55' Stacie Vea and most recently running the 35' Autumn Dawn Faith. He also served as executive director of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association.
“That’s another advantage,” Stockwell said. “He knows how the process works.”
The arcing loop created by using floating rope between traps has been identified by NMFS as an entanglement risk to whales as they swim to the bottom to feed. But that is a danger most notable and preventable when sinking groundline is used on smooth bottom.
Relying on the video from Laura Ludwig’s 2003 and 2004 ROV work, Maine has been able to document the difference in bottom habitat in many areas of the Maine coast and how it affects groundline arcs.
“Those pictures have been worth a thousand words,” Stockwell said, when it comes to explaining to people outside the state why lobstermen here need some flotation in their groundline.
The DMR has many coils of prototype rope that need to be put onto traps and fished. The experimental line especially needs testing in the Downeast part of the coast, where lobstermen are heavily dependent on floating rope because of bottom and tide conditions.
Once the rope gets tested, Robbins will talk with lobstermen about the modifications that may be needed to make it operational while also maintaining a low profile between traps.
“We have to have a credible low profile alternative ready,” Stockwell said, referring to a likely prohibition on the use of floating rope for groundlines in the ALWTRP.
Any lobsterman willing to try the prototype rope should contact Robbins. He can be reached at (207) 633-9513, which is the DMR lab facility where he is based, or by cell phone at (207) 350-6014. His e-mail is <Stephen.Robbins@maine.gov>.
Susan Jones
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