Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (GOMLF), a small Maine-based non-profit organization collaborating with northeast lobstermen and scientists on industry-based research projects, will hold two more groundline exchanges for Maine lobstermen who have already signed up for the Bottom Line Project.
A waiting list for the program has been maintained since April 2009, when the broad-based sinking groundline requirements of the Final Whale Rule went into effect. Recent federal funding has been awarded to GOMLF to make the additional exchanges possible.
The exchanges will be held Nov. 11-12 in Ellsworth, and Dec. 9-10 in Waldoboro. Maine lobstermen on the waiting list have been invited to pre-register, and it is anticipated that approximately 200,000 pounds of floating groundline will be returned at each location.
Participating lobstermen will receive vouchers worth $1.40 per pound toward the purchase of replacement sinking line at participating rope dealers in Maine and New Hampshire. Sinking groundlines, which are more expensive and less durable than floating groundlines, are required in many areas to comply with the federal regulation aimed at reducing the entanglement potential for large whales.
Since its first collection in 2007, the Bottom Line Project has collected 1,433,441 pounds of floating groundline and issued vouchers for sinking rope worth over $2,005,000.
All of the collected rope has either been recycled into plastic products, or has been used to weave doormats; all of the floating groundline collected at these two events will be used by doormat manufacturers in Maine.
Lobstermen interested in the program should contact GOMLF to be added to the waiting list. For more information on the Bottom Line Project, visit www.gomlf.org or contact Laura Ludwig at the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, 985-8088.
