WHALES ON THE LINE

Rather than resist expected federal rules aimed at protecting endangered right whales, more than 100 fishermen are expected in Scarborough this week to voluntarily turn in their floating rope in exchange for line that is more whale-friendly. University of Maine researchers already are at work looking for uses for the old rope. These efforts will help lobstermen weather a necessary but unpopular change.

North Atlantic right whales are thought to number only about 300. The whales, which migrate from the mid-Atlantic to Canada, are prone to getting entangled in fishing gear and to being hit by ships. The National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed requiring the use of line that sinks to the bottom of the ocean rather than floating in the water where it can get wrapped around a whale. This change is expected to cost fishermen on the East Coast $14 million, according to NMFS, which is now reviewing the economic impact of the rule before making it final.

To help defray this cost, Sen. Olympia Snowe, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees NMFS, secured funding for a gear buy-back program. The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation received a $2 million grant from these federal funds for a rope exchange program.

This week, the foundation will hold its first exchange and more than 100 lobstermen have already signed up to participate. Lobstermen from Steuben, Bar Harbor, Deer Isle and elsewhere will haul floating rope to a Scarborough collection site. They will receive vouchers worth $1.40 per pound of float rope turned in. The vouchers can be used only to purchase sinking rope, which costs about twice as much as floating rope.

Although dozens of lobstermen wisely are being proactive and making the change before it is required, they represent only a small portion of the 72,000 lobster license holders in Maine. About 1,400 of these hold permits to trap lobsters in federal waters, where the NMFS rules would be in effect. It is estimated that there are 8 million pounds of floating rope in waters off the coast of Maine.

As for what to do with all the old rope, researchers at UMaine’s AEWC Center are in the midst of a pilot project to determine how best to grind it up and mix it with other materials so it can be reused, preferably by companies in Maine. Composite decking is one possibility.

As a result, millions of pounds of discarded line will be diverted from the landfill, recycled products developed and Maine companies may expand and make more money. Consider it making the best of an unpopular situation.