October 20, 2014 — The Maine Lobstering Union has filed a notice of its intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service, seeking to roll back rules that require fishermen here to use sinking rope and to run up to 15 traps on just two vertical lines in some offshore waters.
But the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) argues such legal action could unravel a delicate and hard-won deal that kept the state's fishermen from having to adhere to far more onerous restrictions.
Kim Tucker, a Lincolnville attorney who is representing the union, said fishermen's safety is at risk by using the sinking line that links traps on the bottom, because the rope frays from the inside and can snap unexpectedly. Tucker and others have said that some fishermen have lost fingers when the line broke.
"It's really dangerous stuff," she said. It doesn't lay flat on the deck, posing a threat of tangling the legs of those working around it, she added.
Tucker also said the longer trawls—the series of traps linked by sinking line—required by the federal whale protection rules can put the boat and crew at risk. Hauling equipment and the boat can react unpredictably with the heavier strain the multiple traps bring. Large rocks can be hauled up with the longer trawls, also making for unsafe conditions, she added.
The sinking line rule went into effect in 2009.
Tucker also believes whales are not made more safe by the sinking-line, multiple-trap rules. With single or double traps on a line, she argued, if a whale becomes entangled, it can shrug off the rope more easily. The increased weight of multiple traps anchor the whale when it gets tangled, she said.
Read the full story at The Working Waterfront