August 3, 2018 –The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is imposing a new five-trap limit for lobster trawlers in a restricted area around Mt. Desert Rock — about 6 miles off Frenchboro. Gear conflicts are growing common in the area, as smaller and larger boats compete for access to fertile lobster habitat.
Lobstermen in management Zone B, which includes Mt. Desert Rock, voted for the limit earlier this year, a limit that they say is in keeping with their longtime fishing traditions. They were responding to increased conflicts with bigger boats, many from other zones, fishing 15 traps and more on a single line.
“It’s pitting one group of fishermen against another,” says Patrick Keliher, DMR’s Commissioner.
Keliher says large lobster trawlers based in neighboring management zones — particularly Zone C to the south and west — are venturing into far offshore waters, in Zone B.