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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 12
August 2007
GOM Lobster Foundation Ventless Trap Survey: 6 years and counting
KENNEBUNK, ME - In addition to the Regional Ventless Trap Survey (see story page 12C), there is another, similar survey going on out there and it’s easy to confuse the two.
The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation’s (GOMLF) Ventless Trap Survey is a year-round, volunteer effort to collect data on sublegal lobsters that has been operating since 2001, according to GOMLF Executive Director Erin Pelletier.
The differences between the GOMLF and the regional ventless trap surveys are many. The goal of the GOMLF project is to develop a long-term time series of size and abundance and to determine if the sublegal lobster populations in the Gulf of Maine where lobstermen actually fish are increasing or decreasing. The regional survey places ventless traps both in places that are fished and in places lobstermen would never dream of setting.
Additionally, the GOMLF project is examining the impacts of various trap types, bait, bottom substrate, temperature, and depth on the abundance of sublegal lobsters.
The GOMLF works closely with the Fishermen and Scientists Research Society in Canada, with fishermen from both countries deploying traps of the same design (see CFN June 2007).
According to a GOMLF report issued at a joint conference between US and Canadian researchers and fishermen, participating Gulf of Maine lobstermen have so far measured approximately 60,000 lobsters.
Procedure
Under GOMLF project protocols, lobstermen set a triple, which consists of a regular commercial trap that is the control, a ventless trap, and a standardized ventless trap containing a temperature recorder.
As part of the data-collection process, fishermen record their findings such as size, sex, v-notch, and reproductive state for each lobster caught in the traps. They also record date, time, latitude and longitude, depth, wind speed and direction, number of soak days, type of bait used, bottom type, and a summary of their commercial catch.
“Initially fishermen choose the site, but then the gear has to be fished in the same location year-round,” said Pelletier.
Participating lobstermen haul the traps during a normal fishing rotation and record data once a week if possible or at least twice per month. Fishermen are asked to set the gear on hard bottom and in shallow water at less than 10 fathoms.
Volunteers
The survey is voluntary and participating fishermen are not paid. However, they are allowed to keep the lobsters from the traps. In turn, fishermen have to count the survey traps as part of the number of the commercial traps they set, which means three trap tags need to be used for the study traps.
“Currently, we have 30 volunteer lobstermen from Maine and four from Massachusetts,” said Pelletier. “But, we are always looking for volunteers.”
For more information on the Gulf of Maine Ventless Trap Survey or to volunteer to help collect data, call Erin Pelletier at (207) 985-8088 or e-mail her at <erin@gomlf.org>. Information is also available on the foundation’s web site at <www.gomlf.org>.
Rosanne Mizzoni
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