Rockland lobsterman invents collapsible trap

ROCKLAND — Make a better lobster trap and the world probably won’t beat a path to your door. Eric Wass will be happy if Maine fishermen find their way to his Rockland garage.

The lobsterman-inventor is the creator of what he calls “the trap of the future” — a collapsible steel-wire pot that folds up to about one-third the size of the standard foot-high trap.

While the breakthrough probably won’t put the Nobel Prize Committee in a swoon, Wass hopes his product will attract the attention of the thousands of small-boat, independent lobstermen, like himself, who would rather spend their time fishing than in a seemingly endless parade of lugging traps from home to truck to dock to boat to ocean.

“If you can set out two or three times more traps per trip, you save on fuel and you get your traps in the water sooner catching fish,” Wass says.

“I’ve got eight fishermen using about 100 of my traps so far, and the results are excellent. The only drawback is that they don’t make a particularly good coffee table, but, on the other hand, tourists could get three times as many on the roof of a car.”

Wass’ product looks much like the standard wire trap, except one row of the sheet-metal clips that hold the wire together also act as hinges.

“You can set it up in about 30 seconds, it is very strong and sturdy,” he says. “We’ve never had one collapse underwater. It takes a little longer to build, so it costs $10 to $12 more, but that pays for iteself with just a few lobsters.”

Besides satisfying the two most urgent desires of fishermen — lower operating costs and more fish-catching power, Wass’ compact trap also offers a stealth factor so important in this highly competitive business.

“You could take a small load of traps out to a new hot spot without everyone in the world seeing them stacked up high on your boat and following you,” he says.

“The small size has a lot of benefits. You can keep a few extras tucked away on your boat to try a new spot or to fill in a string if you lose some. The lower center of gravity gives your boat more stability, and you need less room for storage.”

Like most inventors, Wass’ brainstorm hit during an idle moment. “About two years ago, I was driving through Waldoboro, thinking about all the back-and-forth trips I had to make to set my traps. It just hit me — build a trap that folds up. I went home, drew it up, made a few and tried them out.”

After a year of testing, redesign, and trial and error, Wass took his finished product to Brooks Trap Mill in Thomaston for advice on mass production, then put up his workshop, bought his tools and opened Libby Island Trap Co.

The standard Wass trap comes fitted with the small-opening shrimp mesh head and parlors pioneered by Brooks, although the old larger, hand-knitted versions are available as an option for traditionalists. Wass also builds collapsible lobster crates.

“I’m a lobsterman; I know we’re slow to change, but when something works better it completely takes over,” Wass said. “Fifteen years ago, wire traps started creeping up the coast. People saw they fished better, so now about the only place you see wooden traps is in an antique shop.”

Wass unveiled his trap at this years’s Maine Fishermen’s Forum in March. “The reaction was excellent. Fishermen would look at it, jump back, their mouths would drop open, then they’d come back two or three times, bringing their friends with them. The big concern is whether they’re sturdy enough to hold up. They are — I just have to get enough out there to prove it.”

The forum also introduced Wass to that peculiar breed of entrepreneur willing to profit from another’s ingenuity and hard work. “One guy wanted to buy one to take to Canada to manufacture and sell, like he was doing me a favor. Another guy wanted to take one to Mexico, build them with cheap labor and import them back up here. Fortunately, I’d already applied for U.S. and Canadian patents. I shuffled them both right out the door.”

With some 6,500 licensed lobstermen in Maine fishing an estimated 3 million traps, a hit product could make Wass golden, but he’s not worried if it doesn’t work out. “I’m going to start small, I’m going to be patient. If nothing else, it’s been interesting. I do have one advantage — whatever I don’t sell, I’ll just fish myself.”