February 17, 2015 — New rules for fishing gear intended to protect whales, set to go into effect June 1, include adding special marks to buoy lines on gear set outside a Maine exemption line.
The rules are part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction program. They were announced in the summer of 2014 to give fishermen plenty of time to make adjustments.
Most of Maine state waters are inside the exemption line designated in the rule. But any lobster gear set outside that line must have vertical lines marked at the top, middle and bottom with 12-inch red marks.
“We do not dictate how they do it,” said John Higgins, equipment specialist for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office. “Fishermen just want to be careful that whatever they do is going to stay on, to show that they’re in compliance.”
The office recently published a supplement to the Take Reduction Plan, available on the Department of Marine Resources website, with maps of exempted areas and detailed information about weak link and gear marking requirements. Options for marking buoy lines include colored twine, paint and plastic electrical tape.
Read the full story at the Ellsworth American