TNC ME Campaign Impact Report 2024 - Flipbook - Page 7
CLIMATE & oceans
TESTING NEW LOBSTER GEAR
Efforts to protect critically endangered North
Atlantic right whales are reshaping life on the
water in the Gulf of Maine. As things stand today,
it’s estimated there are only about 350 of these
whales left, with fewer than 70 adult females
remaining to sustain the population.
Many initiatives are underway to reverse the
decline of the right whale population—from
changing shipping lanes and implementing vessel
speed restrictions to researching changes in
the distribution of the zooplankton that makes
up the bulk of a right whale’s diet. Many of our
fishing partners anticipate new rules will require
them to reduce the number of vertical endlines
and buoys that they use to mark the location of
their lobster gear.
Fortunately, “ropeless” or “on-demand” gear
can eliminate the need for endlines and surface
buoys altogether. In these systems, the gear is triggered and surfaces when the fisherman approaches the area above
the trap. Lobstermen in Massachusetts have been trying out the new gear, and results there are promising. However,
conditions and fishing practices are different in Maine, so we need to test the gear here.
That’s why TNC in Maine has partnered with the Maine Department of Marine Resources to help launch a new
Innovative Gear Library. We purchased several different types of on-demand gear and donated them to the gear
library so that fishermen who are interested can give it a try. TNC has a long history of partnering with fishermen to
test new gear and monitoring tools to address pressing challenges in the groundfish fishery, and we are committed to
doing the same for the lobster fishery through our support of the Innovative Gear Library.
Number of sea-run fish
Our Goals by 2024
Oceans
GOAL: 100% EFFECTIVELY MONITORED
80%
6 Groundfish Stocks
GOAL: DOUBLE FROM 4 TO 8 GROUNDFISH STOCKS
50%
Number of groundfish stocks rebuilt to healthy, sustainable levels
A TOUR OF YOUR IMPACT | 7
