August 22, 2018 — The ocean floor off the coast of New England is dotted with rectangular boxes split into two compartments — a “kitchen,” where lobsters are lured into the trap, and a “parlor,” where the crustaceans remain before they’re hauled up, rubber bands slipped over their menacing claws. Along with the multicolored buoys that mark their location, these underwater boxes are the chief emblems of the hard-knock marine endeavor that supplies the Atlantic delicacy.
Once rendered in wood, lobster traps are now mostly fashioned out of welded wire mesh, thanks to a Massachusetts man, James Knott Sr., who died last week of natural causes, according to the company he founded, Riverdale Mills Corp. He was 88.
He was acclaimed by the company as a “profoundly influential innovator, whose products help millions of people.”
Most who enjoy a buttered lobster tail are benefiting from Knott’s creation. Aquamesh, the wire mesh fabric he invented, is used for 85 percent of lobster traps in North America, the company said. In a testament to its broad applications, a variant of the welded wire almost became an option for President Trump’s border wall, funding for which remains in limbo.