A bill working its way toward the governor's desk to be signed into law would require that any fish or other baits that are not a natural part of a lobster's diet be approved before they're lowered into Maine waters.
The Legislature's Marine Resources Committee unanimously endorsed the bill and it reached the House floor last week. It is expected to be approved by both the House and Senate.
The search for new lobster baits has gone on for decades, but it intensified in recent years as shortages of herring, the bait of choice for lobsters and lobstermen, grew more acute. Lobster bait may seem like a lowly topic for the Legislature, but it's a big problem, considering Maine's $300-million-a-year lobster industry uses 100,000 metric tons of bait each year.
Maine already has some laws against baiting traps with unwanted "stuff," such as the hides of deer, moose and other animals. The issue there was more a concern about public perception than any threat to lobsters, which tend to eat most anything. There is an exception for a hairless, rawhide type of bait.
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