November 7, 2016 — A proposal intended to curb costly trap wars would require Maine lobstermen to put two tags on traps they set outside their licensed fishing territory.
Right now, every trap that is set along Maine’s 3,500-mile coast must have at least one tag, which identifies the fisherman who owns it. That 50-cent tag is the primary enforcement tool the Maine Marine Patrol uses to make sure a lobsterman is hauling only his or her own traps.
Under state rules, Maine lobstermen can set up to 49 percent of their traps outside of their home fishing zone. In two zones along the coast, where fishermen are competing hardest for prime ocean bottom, lobstermen are already required to put second tags on traps dropped outside their home zone. Now, the Maine Department of Marine Resources wants to extend double-tagging to all seven lobster zones to make it easier to catch lobstermen who are fishing too many traps outside their zone.
“It’s a big ocean,” said Maj. Rene Cloutier of the marine patrol. “We know our waters, but we only have so many hands, and so much time. Without double-tagging, (enforcement) is an all-encompassing thing.”
That’s because without a second tag requirement, the marine patrol would have to haul more than 392 traps in one day to prove a fisherman with the maximum 800 allowable traps had broken the so-called 49/51 rule, said Cloutier. The agency has done just that, Cloutier said, but it takes a lot of time and manpower – two or three officers on two or three boats – and fishermen know that.
With the second tag, a patrol officer only has to check a handful of lines, and if the traps are properly tagged, it’s a strong indication that the lobsterman is complying with regulations.
