I do like the fact that the Director called out the obvious, that the study "would only serve to reinforce what we already know -- the gear can be successfully deployed, located, and retrieved." People everywhere need to have there noses rubbed in "No Chit Sherlock" moments.
In the spirit of full-disclosure, I DO have a dog in this fight in that I share my inshore groundfishing spots with the lobstermen. Each drift is an exercise in lobster trap slalom fishing, and I do lose more than the occasional rig to lobster gear. Ropeless gear would have me drifting blind...
The director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries has rejected a proposal that sought to allow Massachusetts lobster fishermen to fish in restricted waters using whale-safe ropeless gear, according to a letter issued to the applicants last week.
The proposal, submitted by a group of lobstermen organized under the name “Pioneers for a Thoughtful Coexistence,” asked regulators to allow them to set as many as 200 ropeless traps in areas along the South Shore, where lobster fishing is closed three months a year.
The plan had drawn support from right whale scientists and environmental groups who say the ropeless gear eliminates the risk of whales becoming entangled in the heavy ropes that are typically used to connect traps on the seafloor to buoys on the surface.
Had the proposal been approved, it would have been the first time commercial lobster fishing were allowed without buoy lines in any state waters.
But in a letter to the group dated Friday that was obtained by the Globe, DMF Director Daniel McKiernan denied the plan and laid out three reasons for his decision, the first being that the proposal “lacks a study design that will contribute meaningfully to further understanding the efficacy of ropeless fishing.
“Rather, the objectives of your proposal focus principally on the efficacy of the gear in terms of deployment, location and retrieval,” McKiernan wrote. “This would only serve to reinforce what we already know — the gear can be successfully deployed, located, and retrieved.”
McKiernan went on to write that the research “will not provide any additional or immediate conservation benefit to right whales” and said there is “very little interest among the broader industry within state waters in adopting new risk mitigation strategies to accommodate year-round fishing opportunities.”
The technology behind ropeless fishing can come in different forms, including traps that are attached to a spool of rope that rises to the surface or traps with balloons that can be remotely activated to inflate and float to the top.
Lori Caron, president of Pioneers for a Thoughtful Coexistence, said she was “surprised by the dismissive response to the extended partnership and collaboration with the participants and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the doubt cast upon the requested effort as it relates to project design and research contribution.”
“The fulltime lobster fishery in Massachusetts has been silently regulated to extinction without remedy or safeguards for the future for what little remains,” Caron said in a statement Tuesday night. “It is unfortunate this small project, a natural continuation of existing exploratory work, is being held to the standards of global conversion and corresponding industry affordability concerns.”
The decision drew outcry from at least one group that supported the plan.
“This is a shocking and shameful decision, and a missed opportunity, especially in the waters of the ‘innovation state,’ ” said Patrick Ramage, senior director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “Massachusetts belongs at the vanguard of pragmatic efforts to protect right whales and fishermen’s livelihoods.
“DMF has relegated itself to the rear guard, behind even Canada, where such lobstermen-led efforts have strong support,” Ramage continued. “This is years of collaboration and forward-thinking solutions tossed overboard in favor of business as usual. Unacceptable. We all expected more of our director of marine fisheries.
“If the director wants to alienate those who are trying to change the situation on the water for the better, he is well on his way. Let’s hope our federal officials will be far more future-focused and less beholden to the status quo.”
In the spirit of full-disclosure, I DO have a dog in this fight in that I share my inshore groundfishing spots with the lobstermen. Each drift is an exercise in lobster trap slalom fishing, and I do lose more than the occasional rig to lobster gear. Ropeless gear would have me drifting blind...
State regulators reject plan to use ropeless lobster traps
The director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries has rejected a proposal that sought to allow Massachusetts lobster fishermen to fish in restricted waters using whale-safe ropeless gear, according to a letter issued to the applicants last week.
The proposal, submitted by a group of lobstermen organized under the name “Pioneers for a Thoughtful Coexistence,” asked regulators to allow them to set as many as 200 ropeless traps in areas along the South Shore, where lobster fishing is closed three months a year.
The plan had drawn support from right whale scientists and environmental groups who say the ropeless gear eliminates the risk of whales becoming entangled in the heavy ropes that are typically used to connect traps on the seafloor to buoys on the surface.
Had the proposal been approved, it would have been the first time commercial lobster fishing were allowed without buoy lines in any state waters.
But in a letter to the group dated Friday that was obtained by the Globe, DMF Director Daniel McKiernan denied the plan and laid out three reasons for his decision, the first being that the proposal “lacks a study design that will contribute meaningfully to further understanding the efficacy of ropeless fishing.
“Rather, the objectives of your proposal focus principally on the efficacy of the gear in terms of deployment, location and retrieval,” McKiernan wrote. “This would only serve to reinforce what we already know — the gear can be successfully deployed, located, and retrieved.”
McKiernan went on to write that the research “will not provide any additional or immediate conservation benefit to right whales” and said there is “very little interest among the broader industry within state waters in adopting new risk mitigation strategies to accommodate year-round fishing opportunities.”
The technology behind ropeless fishing can come in different forms, including traps that are attached to a spool of rope that rises to the surface or traps with balloons that can be remotely activated to inflate and float to the top.
Lori Caron, president of Pioneers for a Thoughtful Coexistence, said she was “surprised by the dismissive response to the extended partnership and collaboration with the participants and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the doubt cast upon the requested effort as it relates to project design and research contribution.”
“The fulltime lobster fishery in Massachusetts has been silently regulated to extinction without remedy or safeguards for the future for what little remains,” Caron said in a statement Tuesday night. “It is unfortunate this small project, a natural continuation of existing exploratory work, is being held to the standards of global conversion and corresponding industry affordability concerns.”
The decision drew outcry from at least one group that supported the plan.
“This is a shocking and shameful decision, and a missed opportunity, especially in the waters of the ‘innovation state,’ ” said Patrick Ramage, senior director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “Massachusetts belongs at the vanguard of pragmatic efforts to protect right whales and fishermen’s livelihoods.
“DMF has relegated itself to the rear guard, behind even Canada, where such lobstermen-led efforts have strong support,” Ramage continued. “This is years of collaboration and forward-thinking solutions tossed overboard in favor of business as usual. Unacceptable. We all expected more of our director of marine fisheries.
“If the director wants to alienate those who are trying to change the situation on the water for the better, he is well on his way. Let’s hope our federal officials will be far more future-focused and less beholden to the status quo.”
