Ropeless fishing traps being considered to save whales

Ropeless lobster and crab fishing traps might help save North Atlantic right whales and other large marine animals from entanglement, injury and death, but fishermen will probably have to be convinced.

Engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts are currently testing ropeless gear and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is considering the idea as one way to help reduce the deaths of endangered right whales off Canada’s east coast.

Lobster and crab traps are typically set on the sea bottom with buoy markers floating on the surface, attached by ropes.

Whales and turtles have been known to get entangled in the ropes, leading to injury and, in some cases, death.

A new system under development in the U.S. uses spools of rope – with buoys attached – anchored to the bottom along with the traps. When a fisherman wants to haul the traps, an acoustic signal is sent, releasing the buoys, which then rise and carry rope to the surface.

Leonard LeBlanc, a retired lobster and crab fisherman from Cheticamp who now represents more than 500 fish harvesters with the Gulf of Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, said he has heard about the system and it might work – in theory.

“I don’t think it’s going to work,” he said. “It’s, on paper, a very good idea. In practice – nightmare.”

The problem, LeBlanc said, is fishermen don’t have exclusive territories and usually set traps very close together where the catch is.

“In the shallows, you can literally walk on the buoys as they float now,” he said. “It would work if people had their own territory to fish ... but the way guys fish around here and the way I fished for 33 years, they can forget about that one.”

LeBlanc, who fished inshore on the western side of Cape Breton Island, said whales typically weren’t a problem for local fishermen. But farther out, the lines and buoys will need to be marked to identify the owner, and fishing areas will have to be allocated to individuals, he said.

In July, DFO closed one area snow crab fishery early in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after an eighth right whale was found dead this year alone. The government also imposed a speed limit on marine traffic.

Since then, several more of the endangered whales have died in the gulf, and the department says it is considering a number of measures, including restricting the timing and location of fishing seasons to avoid the whales, implementing gear-marking regulations and the use of ropeless fishing.

LeBlanc said fishermen want a solution that protects the animals, protects their gear and doesn’t cost too much.

“I think there’s a way to get it done,” he said. “I think we need to take a deep breath and acknowledge that the problem is there ... and come up with a solution that’s workable and at the end of the day makes sense and is going to actually resolve the problem.”