YORK, Maine — June 4, 2014 — Local lobstermen are upset that a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel is back off of the coast of York mapping the depths for new nautical charts and inadvertently cutting their fishing lines and traps in the process.
This is the fourth time since 2009 that a NOAA ship has been working off the York coast, according to Mike Sinclair, president of the York Lobstermen's Association. Since that time, Sinclair estimates NOAA vessels have caused $25,000 in gear losses for the 50 lobstermen in the association and others who fish out of York Harbor who are not members.
What's upsetting lobstermen the most is NOAA has never notified them beforehand that a ship would be in their fishing waters, despite assurances given in March by the commanding officer of the present ship, the Ferdinand R. Hassler, according to Sinclair.
Commanding Officer Marc Moser told Sinclair in March he would notify the York harbormaster before the Ferdinand R. Hassler returned to the York coast, and that the ship would not be there until July, according to Sinclair.
“April 27 and the boat shows up here off of York, no notification, no e-mails,” said Sinclair, who serves on the Harbor Board that oversees the harbormaster's office. “This is the fourth time they've done this in York.”
Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald