Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS June 2009
Commercial Fishing News
Removing Ghost Lobster Traps
ROUND POND – On Saturday, May 30, local fishing grounds,” Marcaurelle said. “More
lobstermen and members of the business than 50 traps have washed ashore there in
community teamed up with dozens of volun- just the last year alone.”
teers from around the state to clean more than Saturday’s clean-up was the culmina-
200 derelict lobster traps from the shores of a tion of a two-year effort to clear the broken
Muscongus Bay Island. gear from Bar. The groundwork was laid in
“This project shows what can be accom- April of this year when members of the South-
plished when diverse groups work together ern Maine Sea Kayaking Network paddled
to tackle a tough problem,” said Doug Welch, out to the island to record tag numbers for all
Executive Director of the Maine Island Trail of the traps. Working in conjunction with
Association (MITA), which is coordinating staff members from the Maine Coastal Pro-
the event. “We have received an extraordi- gram, state Marine Patrol officers posted the
nary level of cooperation from our partners trap numbers at local lobster co-ops so that
on this project, including local fishermen, the fisherman could retrieve any traps they
Round Pound Village Improvement Society, wanted to salvage.
the Maine Coastal Program, and the State This effort led to offers of assistance
Marine Patrol.” Funding for the event was with the project from the Round Pond fishing
How much do you know about the fishing industry back 50 or more years ago? This is the
provided through a grant from the Bonnell and business communities. BJ Russell, head
launch of the eastern rigged dragger SNOOPY,, which blow up in the 1960s.
Cove Foundation, a charitable non-profit of the Round Pond Village Improvement So-
organized by the Cruising Club of America, ciety, helped arrange parking, use of the
Welch said. town’s public launch, and equipment to dis-
The event is designed to address what pose of the collected traps. Robert Ball, who
has become an intractable problem on some is Round Pound Harbormaster as well as a
of the state’s most picturesque shorelines. lobsterman, provided the use of his lobster
As Brian Marcaurelle, MITA’s Stewardship boat to haul the derelict traps back to the
Director, explained, thousands of lobster harbor.
traps are lost every year due to everyday wear Dozens of volunteers assisted in the
and tear on the equipment and the effects of effort by scouring the island shoreline for
strong storms. State law prohibits the re- traps. The gear was ferried via small skiffs to
moval of this gear so that fishermen have a larger boats anchored just off shore. These
chance to recover their property. However, boats then hauled the debris back to the
since most of the gear is damaged beyond Round Pond dock, where it was compacted
repair by the time it washes up, it never gets and disposed of.
reclaimed and keeps accumulating near the “This coalition is addressing an issue
high tide line. that none of us would be able to handle on our
“The problem is especially bad on Bar own,” said MITA’s Welch. “We encourage
Island in Muscongus Bay because of the people to find out about other island steward-
prevailing currents and its proximity to the ship opportunities at
www.mita.org.”
This is the SARDINIA, but do you know more about her?
These photographs are from the Atlantic Fishermen collection at the Penobscot Marine
Museum. If you know anything about these photos, or have old fishing photos and would like
to talk about them please call (207) 223-8846. We will have more of these next issue.
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