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Marine Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol
Ropeless fishing to prevent large whale entanglements: Ropeless Consortium report
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Ropeless fishing
Bycatch
Entanglement
Large whales
ABSTRACT
The 2017 North Atlantic right whale (NARW) unusual mortality event and an increase in humpback whale
entanglements off the U.S. West Coast have driven significant interest in ropeless trap/pot fishing. Removing the
vertical buoy lines used to mark traps on the sea floor and haul them up would dramatically reduce or eliminate
entanglements, the leading cause of NARW mortality, while potentially allowing fishermen to harvest in areas
that would otherwise need to be closed to protect whales. At the first annual Ropeless Consortium meeting,
researchers, fishing industry representatives, manufacturers, conservationists, and regulators discussed existing
and developing technological replacements for the marking and retrieval functions of buoy lines. Fishermen and
NGO partners shared their experience demonstrating ropeless systems and provided feedback to improve the
designs. U.S. and Canadian federal regulators discussed prospects to use ropeless fishing gear in areas closed to
fishing with vertical lines, as well as other options to reduce entanglements, and a Massachusetts official shared
additional regulatory considerations involved in ropeless fishing in state waters. Sustainable seafood experts
discussed consumer market advantages and endangered, threatened, and protected species impacts in sustain-
ability standards and certifications. Moving forward, there is an immediate need to (1) work with industry
partners to iteratively test and improve ropeless retrieval and marking systems to adapt them to the specific
conditions of the relevant trap/pot fisheries, (2) create data sharing and communications protocols for ropeless
gear location marking, and (3) develop regulatory procedures and enforcement capacity to allow legal ropeless
gear use.
1. Introduction
The top threat to the critically endangered North Atlantic right
whale (NARW) is entanglement in vertical lines used in trap/pot fishing
gear. Over the last ten years, the number of serious injuries and mor-
talities from entanglements has increased dramatically, and from 2010
to 2015 entanglement accounted for 85% of diagnosed NARW serious
injuries and mortalities [12,28]. On average, a quarter of the popula-
tion—which presently is estimated at just 411 animals [22,25]—bears
evidence of new entanglement interaction each year [9]. Since the
population includes fewer than an estimated 100 reproductive-aged
females [25], the death of a single animal from any cause poses a threat
to the continued existence of the species. The stress and energetic de-
mands of entanglement are also likely contributing to declining calving
rates [27]. In 2017, the NARW population experienced an unusual
mortality event, in which 17 animals—about four percent of the po-
pulation—were observed dead, four of which were confirmed to be
caused by entanglement [21,24,26]. Three more NARWs were observed
dead in 2018, all apparently due to entanglement [21,26].
Sometimes an entangled NARW can free itself, though the struggle
leaves telltale scars. In other instances, the whale's thrashing and rolling
causes fishing lines, rope and often associated traps and buoys to wrap
ever more tightly around its head, mouth, flippers, and/or tail (Fig. 1).
Trailing gear can snag other lines and buoys, compounding the pro-
blem. In a severe case, the whale may tire and drown relatively quickly,
but the process is usually much more drawn out as the entangling rope
and gear impede basic movement, feeding, and reproduction, cause
chronic infection and damage to muscle and bone, and ultimately
weaken the whale until death occurs. An entangled NARW can take an
average of six months to die, and the pain and debilitation they endure
is a serious animal welfare concern [15,16].
The United States is legally bound to protect the NARW under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), and Canada is required to do so under the Species at Risk Act
(SARA). The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has set
Potential Biological Removal (PBR, the number of animals that can be
removed annually from a stock while allowing the population to
maintain sustainable growth) at less than one (0.9) [8]. In their most
recent Section 7consultation on the American Lobster Fishery, how-
ever, NMFS stated that the U.S. lobster trap/pot fishery alone is likely to
kill or seriously injure 3.25 whales each year [19].
Since 1997, NMFS has implemented a number of measures designed
to identify and reduce NARW entanglements, including gear marking
requirements, weak links at the surface, sinking groundlines, trap
limits, minimum numbers of traps per vertical line, and a seasonal
fishery closure [7]. However, the rate of serious injury and mortality
from entanglement has increased dramatically over the same period [7]
as the NARW population has taken a downward turn [22] (Fig. 2).
Though a number of confounding factors have likely contributed to the
increasing entanglement mortality rate, including changes in NARW
distribution and increased fishing rope strength [10], protective mea-
sures to date have been insufficient. Therefore, NMFS and the Atlantic
Large Whale Take Reduction Team are considering additional measures
to protect NARWs, such as expanded time-area closures, use of reduced
breaking strength ropes, and ropeless fishing (defined as gear that does
not use vertical buoy lines prior to gear retrieval; Fig. 3).
Following the unusual mortality event of 2017, when 12 NARWs
died in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Department of Fisheries and
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103587
Received 19 February 2019; Received in revised form 12 June 2019; Accepted 13 June 2019
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
0308-597X/
Oceans Canada (DFO) implemented static and dynamic fisheries clo-
sures, increased reporting requirements for fishing activity and lost
gear, and required limited gear modifications in areas where whales
had been observed aggregating [5]. However, in 2018 two NARWs
were observed entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and a third was
observed entangled in the Bay of Fundy that had last been sighted
without gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence [25]. A fourth whale suffered
severe entanglement injuries in the Gulf [25]. Three additional NARWs
have died in 2018 from entanglement, one of which was traced back to
a 2017 entanglement in snow crab gear [21,26]. The source of en-
tangling gear for the remaining two whales is unknown.
The most recent scientific data from acoustic monitoring and
sightings shows that NARWs utilize more of their migratory range
throughout the year than previously thought and can be found in areas
likely to overlap with trap/pot fisheries throughout the year [4]. Al-
though the evidence is incomplete, recent changes in prey distribution,
perhaps associated with changing climate and oceanographic condi-
tions, may influence some of those movements, taking NARW to loca-
tions where entanglements had not previously been frequent. Rope
taken off of entangled whales has been tracked to trap/pot fisheries
throughout the NARW's range [7]. One very promising option to
eliminate the threat of entanglement of critically endangered North
Atlantic right whales and other protected marine species while allowing
the continued operation of fixed gear fisheries is to transition these
Fig. 1. Illustration of a North Atlantic right whale entangled in the vertical line used to connect a buoy at the surface with a string of traps, referred to as a trawl, on
the ocean floor. Whales risk mouth and appendage entanglements when swimming through these vertical buoy lines. Credit: Natalie Renier, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution.
Fig. 2. The number of diagnosed serious injuries
and mortalities caused by entanglements has
increased substantially as the North Atlantic
right whale population has taken a downward
turn. Potential Biological Removal is set by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and
represents the number of animals that can be
removed annually from a stock while allowing
the population to maintain sustainable growth.
Source: Pace et al., 2017, North Atlantic Right
Whale Consortium Annual Report Cards, NMFS
Stock Assessments and preliminary data.
Fig. 3. Illustration of ropeless (vertical line-free) fishing gear. Upon receiving an acoustic trigger, a buoy and endline attached to a trap at the end of a trawl deploys
for retrieval or a lift bag inflates and brings the attached trap to the surface. Endlines are only used during gear retrieval, or not at all if a lift bag is used. A virtual trap
marker visible on a screen in the vessel would replace the marker buoy. Credit: Natalie Renier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
2
fisheries to ropeless systems.
Large whale entanglements on the West Coast of the U.S., particu-
larly of the California/Oregon/Washington humpback whale popula-
tion, have also increased dramatically over the last five years [3]. Gear
from the Dungeness crab trap/pot fishery has been most commonly
identified [3]. This commercial and recreational fishery occurs from
central California to Alaska and uses a single trap per vertical line.
According to the most recent stock assessment, estimated annual mor-
tality and serious injury in the California/Oregon/Washington hump-
back whale population equals 18.8 animals, which exceeds the Poten-
tial Biological Removal allocation for U.S. waters of 16.7 animals [3].
The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, com-
prised of federal and state agency staff (including members of NMFS
and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife), fishermen, con-
servation NGOs, scientists, and disentanglement teams, is developing a
Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program to identify times and places
with elevated entanglement risk based on fishing effort, wildlife con-
centrations, forage conditions, and entanglement reports. In 2018, the
California legislature passed a new law (Senate Bill 1309) that gave the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director new authority to
implement time-area closures in the commercial Dungeness crab fishery
to prevent wildlife entanglements. Some California fishermen are in-
terested in exploring and testing ropeless fishing gear to reduce en-
tanglement risk, minimize gear loss, and continue fishing in areas that
could be closed to traditional fishing methods to protect whales.
The current pace of ropeless gear development and implementation
is not commensurate with the urgency of the NARW entanglement
mortality crisis and the growing need to address wildlife entanglements
in fixed gear globally. However, a number of promising avenues exist to
accelerate this process. Researchers, fishing industry representatives,
government officials, gear manufacturers, and NGOs discussed the
current state of ropeless fishing and options to move forward at the first
annual Ropeless Consortium meeting on November 6th, 2018 at the
New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The Ropeless Consortium developed out of a workshop entitled
“Overcoming Development, Regulatory, and Funding Challenges for
Ropeless Fishing to Reduce Whale Entanglement in the U.S. and
Canada,” held in February 2018 at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts [2]. The workshop was at-
tended by nearly 100 engineers, manufacturers, fishermen, scientists,
conservationists, and regulators from the U.S. and Canada. Its objec-
tives were to (1) discuss the need for and approaches to implementing
ropeless fishing to reduce entanglements of large whales in trap/pot
fisheries, (2) discuss how to develop regulatory pathways to make
ropless fishing legal in the U.S. and Canada, and (3) discuss strategies to
fund two phases of development: demonstration/evaluation and ex-
perimental fisheries. The Ropeless Consortium was conceived to facil-
itate information transfer among stakeholders during an annual
meeting, thereby accelerating the development and adoption of rope-
less fishing to prevent large whale entanglements. This paper reports on
the first of these annual meetings. The agenda and list of speakers from
the meeting can be found in Appendix. More information and pre-
sentations can be found at www.ropeless.org/.
2. Ropeless retrieval and marking systems
At the Ropeless Consortium meeting, researchers and gear manu-
facturers discussed a variety of ropeless technological replacements for
the marking and retrieval functions of buoy lines, including GPS and
acoustic marking systems and six different lift bag and bottom-stowed
rope retrieval designs. Grappling was also discussed as a ropeless re-
trieval option. Baumgartner et al. [1] have recently summarized these
options.
2.1. Ropeless location marking options
Ropeless trap/pot fishing gear must replace the two main functions
served by the buoy and endline: marking the location of the gear at the
surface and allowing it to be retrieved from the seafloor. Identifying
gear location is of particular concern to fishermen. Spatial concentra-
tion of traps, especially in some areas of the American lobster fishery,
can be very high, and without clear gear location information fishermen
are at risk of having their trawls set over inadvertently by another
fisherman's gear or towed through by mobile gear (such as trawlers or
scallopers). These layovers can lead to difficulty retrieving trawls, da-
mage to gear, or gear loss. Fouling mobile gear with traps is also a
major loss of time and fishing efficiency for mobile gear operators.
Federal and state regulations also require the buoy system to identify
fishermen's gear and enforcement agencies regularly haul up trawls to
inspect compliance with gear regulations. Ropeless fishing inherently
lacks a visual surface marker, so a new trap marking system to prevent
gear conflicts and allow regulators to manage traps in the water must be
developed.
There are two options to replace the gear location marking function:
GPS and acoustic marking. First, fishermen can use GPS systems to
mark the location of their gear. When a fisherman sets a trawl, they can
mark its location on the GPS plotter they already use or with apps
available or in development with ropeless gear companies. Desert Star
Systems LLC provides a free Android app called Ropeless Fisher to do
this, and other ropeless gear companies including EdgeTech and
Ashored Innovations are also developing GPS-based gear marking apps.
In practice, many fishermen already often mark the location of their
gear on their GPS plotters so that it is easier to find when they return to
harvest their catch. GPS marking systems have minimal upfront costs
and, in many cases, fishermen may already have the necessary tech-
nology.
However, ropeless GPS marking systems must also share gear lo-
cation with local fixed and mobile gear fishermen and regulators. Some
fishermen have expressed a desire not to share their gear location be-
yond the immediate vicinity needed to avoid gear conflicts. Some GPS
marking systems, such as the Desert Star Ropeless Fisher app, accom-
modate this by allowing the gear owner to specify a range—such as 0.5
miles— within which the gear can be visible to others. Gear locations
can be uploaded to public maps available to both fixed and mobile
fishermen in the area when they are within cell phone range or if they
connect instantaneously through onboard satellite communication
technology. For those lobster and snow crab fishing vessels not already
equipped for satellite communication, upgrading can be a low-cost
technology (for example, the Garmin in Reach Iridium puck is one
commercial option). However, GPS marking is unhelpful if gear has
moved, such as in a storm or mobile gear interaction, since the de-
ployment location will no longer match the actual location of the gear.
Furthermore, a surface GPS position record does not account for any
tide- or current-induced horizontal drift of the gear during its descent to
the bottom.
Acoustic modem-based location systems offer an alternative
marking option. Acoustic modems could remotely report information
on trawl location and encrypted registration information to fishermen
and regulators at the surface. Acoustic modems allow data to be passed
through water via acoustic waves, and have been used in oceano-
graphic, industrial, and military applications to allow devices to com-
municate with one another from the seafloor, the water column, and
the surface. Modems on a trap or at the ends of a trawl can report the
real-time location of the trawl (as public data) as well as owner regis-
tration and permit information (as encrypted, private data available
only to the owner, enforcement officials, and regulators) when the
modem is interrogated by a hull-mounted modem on a passing ship.
Real-time trawl locations can then be immediately displayed on fixed
and mobile gear fishermen's chart plotters to aid in avoiding gear
conflicts.
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
3
This system ensures that gear location is only reported to vessels
within the trap modem's vicinity; just as with the buoy-marking system
that is currently used, fishermen or regulators would have to be on site
to see where gear is located on the sea floor. Acoustic modems can pair
with GPS systems onboard passing vessels to enable the trawl modems
to self-locate, and if a passing vessel detects a trawl that has moved
(such as in a storm) it can automatically report its new location to the
owner through technology as simple as a text message. Acoustic gear
location marking could thereby significantly reduce lost gear, which is a
considerable cost to the trap/pot fishing industry and a substantial
contributor to marine debris and ghost fishing. A 2012 study by the
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries found that the annual value
of lost traps and the resultant reduced yield in lobsters represents
$252,000 to $665,000 (USD) in lost revenue to the lobster fishery in
Cape Cod Bay alone [13]. In another study of the Massachusetts lobster
fishery, 8.5% of buoy lines parted within one fishing season [11]. While
acoustic locating technologies are a promising option, they may be
expensive, at least initially.
Acoustic modems are already commercially available for other
purposes, but they must be adapted to work in trap/pot fishing op-
erations. This includes: (1) incorporating a mechanism to trigger re-
trieval upon acoustic command, where applicable; (2) developing self-
localization capabilities; and (3) setting up communication and data
protocols to ensure interoperability among modem and wheelhouse
display manufacturers.
2.2. Ropeless retrieval options
There are three main approaches to ropeless gear retrieval: (1)
grappling; (2) bottom-stowed rope bags, traps/cages, or spools that
release a buoy and endline to the surface upon receiving an acoustic
trigger; and (3) inflatable (i.e. salvage) bags that fill with air and come
to the surface with the trap or pot upon receiving an acoustic trigger.
Grappling, in which fishermen use a modified hook to catch the
groundline between traps, is commonly used to retrieve trawls when
buoy lines are lost. This is common for fisheries that share areas with
high levels of ocean traffic, such as in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts,
U.S. and St. John Harbor, New Brunswick, Canada. Fishermen in Boston
Harbor typically use weak endlines so as to avoid equipment damage
from ship, tugs, and barges that could tow a trawl if the endline is too
strong, and often lose buoys and endlines when they are fouled by a
propeller or the weak rope separates in rough conditions [17]. In the
relatively shallow (less than 50 feet deep) waters of Boston Harbor,
traps that have lost buoy markers can be grappled relatively easily even
if other gear has been laid over them in the buoy's absence.
Grappling is also used in the golden crab fishery located off the east
coast of Florida, where the strong currents of the Gulf Stream would
exert too much drag on endlines and pull the surface buoys under.
Fishermen in the golden crab fishery routinely grapple for trawls con-
taining 35 to 50 traps in waters 1000–2000 feet deep, but rarely
experience gear conflicts because the fishery is relatively small and
permit holders fish by zone [17]. Grappling is also occasionally used
illegally in the American lobster fishery by fishermen as a way to ex-
ceed their trap limits, and Marine Patrol Officers have previously lo-
cated and retrieved trawls that were not marked with a buoy [17].
Grappling involves little or no upfront cost for most fishermen, and
significantly reduces rope costs by eliminating the need for vertical
lines. Grappling retrieval time is likely to vary significantly with in-
dividual skill and ocean conditions; however, for many fishermen the
time taken to retrieve trawls by grappling is significantly longer than
hauling endlines and could reduce the number of traps hauled per day
and daily landings. In a study by the Maine-based Pemaquid
Fishermen's Coop, retrieving trawls by grappling took on average 14.2
minutes, while retrieving traps with the standard endline and pot
hauler took one minute [23]. The potential for damage to equipment
and reduced human safety associated with dragging a grapple along the
sea floor are also important considerations, and grappling may not be
an option in the snow crab fisheries where individual pots are very
heavy and pots are typically fished as singles, not trawls.
Other designs for retrieving ropeless pot/trap gear (i.e. bottom-
stowed rope and inflatable bags) require the use of acoustic releases.
Acoustic release systems offer a more accurate and rapid, though in-
itially more expensive, alternative to grappling. Economics of scale
could also lead to significant price reductions if demand in trap/pot
fisheries drove high levels of production. Any of these methods could
also reduce the incidence of lost gear and ghost fishing. At the 2018
Ropeless Consortium meeting, several designers, manufacturers, and
companies presented their ropeless retrieval systems, which are sum-
marized in Table 1.
Desert Star Systems LLC, from California, sells two acoustic release
designs that have been used in the ropeless rock lobster fishery off New
South Wales, Australia since 2013. Upon receiving an acoustic signal
from a transducer aboard the gear owner's vessel, the retrieval unit
releases a buoy and an endline that is stored in a bag attached to the top
of the trap. This bottom-stowed rope bag system is compatible with
standard fishing gear, such as winches and line haulers, currently used
to bring the trawls on board, so fishermen can retrieve the buoy and
haul the gear as if it were a traditional surface buoy and endline. In
2018, fishermen with the Coldwater Lobster Association of Nova Scotia,
the Acadian Crabber's Association in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence,
the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association with NGO partner the
International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the California Dungeness
crab fishery with NGO partner Oceana demonstrated use of Desert Star
retrieval units and GPS marking app Ropeless Fisher.
The Massachusetts-based underwater technology company
EdgeTech has created a ropeless retrieval system currently in produc-
tion. In the EdgeTech system, an acoustic release and coiled rope are
contained in a release cage designed with the same materials and di-
mensions as a lobster trap. Buoys are attached to the rope and top cover
of the release cage, and when the device receives an acoustic release
Table 1
Ropeless retrieval systems in development or use in U.S. and Canadian trap/pot fisheries.
Manufacturer Gear Type Previous demonstrations and use
Desert Star Systems LLC Bottom-stowed rope bag Used by the Australian rock lobster fishery off New South Wales since 2013; demonstrated by
Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, California Dungeness crab fishery, Coldwater Lobster
Association, and Acadian Crabber's Association in 2018
EdgeTech Bottom-stowed rope cage At-sea engineering trials
Fiomarine Bottom-stowed rope spool Used by the Australian and U.S. Navies, in the oil and gas industry, and in oceanographic research
and data collection for over 20 years; demonstrated in the California Dungeness crab fishery in 2018
SMELTS Lift bag Engineering trials in Cape Cod Bay and Stellwagen Bank
Ashored Innovations Bottom-stowed rope cage Demonstrated with the Coldwater Lobster Association
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Bottom-stowed rope spool
(designed for offshore)
Engineering trials at dock
Grappling Frequently used in commercial fishing to recover lost gear when buoy lines separate and used
illegally to exceed trap limits
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
4
signal the top cover detaches and floats to the surface for hauling. The
release system uses replaceable 9-volt batteries that will last for one
year and is designed with a nickel-aluminum-bronze alloy to be re-
sistant to corrosion. Company engineers estimate that it will last 10–20
years.
Fiomarine Industries, based in Australia, similarly offers a ropeless
retrieval system with an acoustically triggered bottom-stowed endline
and buoy, called the Fiobuoy. This design differs from the previous in
that the bottom-stowed rope is stored on a spool instead of in a bag or
cage. The Fiomarine retrieval system is commercially available and has
been used by the Australian and U.S. Navies (for example, for mine
recovery), in the oil and gas industry for retrieving equipment from the
seafloor, and in oceanographic research and data collection for over 20
years. Fiomarine's system also includes a programmed automatic re-
lease (i.e. with a specified date and time), which can be entered as a
back-up in case the acoustic release does not deploy. The spool can be
recoiled with a motorized or hand winder for quick redeployment as the
trap is hauled to the surface. Fishermen in the California Dungeness
crab fishery and the NGO Oceana partnered to demonstrate the
Fiomarine system in 2018 and have additional trials planned for 2019.
Fiomarine has addressed the management of ropeless gear deployments
through an integrated database for fishers and regulators, and is cur-
rently working on system modifications to better integrate into the
Dungeness crab fishery based on fishermen's suggestions and feedback
thus far.
Engineers with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
in Massachusetts have also developed a bottom-stowed spooled rope
retrieval system specifically designed for deep-water fishing operations
off the continental shelf, where there are strong currents and water
depths that range from 100 to 300 m deep. Ropeless fishing gear in
these conditions needs to be functional in a wide range of depths.
Therefore, the WHOI system involves a line spool on a cartridge with a
foam core, since line bags filled with 500–900 m of rope are more likely
to snag. In order to enable a quicker at-sea gear turnaround time, when
a trawl is retrieved fishermen can swap out the line cartridge for a
previously prepared spool, while recovered line is stored in the ship's
hold or in plastic drums on the deck for re-spooling on land. The WHOI
system is compatible with standard offshore fishing gear, such as line,
floats, trawl anchors, and pot haulers, and includes rechargeable bat-
teries. It uses a WHOI acoustic modem, a mature acoustic commu-
nications system that has been used in commercial and military appli-
cations for nearly 20 years. The ropeless system has been dock tested,
with at-sea trials in deep water planned for 2019.
The non-profit Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society
(SMELTS), located in Washington state, has developed a lift bag re-
trieval system that is remotely operated using a WHOI acoustic modem.
The SMELTS lift bag does not employ any vertical line; instead, an
acoustic modem, release electronics, and compressed air cylinder are
contained within a standard lobster trap. When the release system re-
ceives an acoustic signal, the compressed air cylinder fills the lift bag on
top of the trap with air to bring the trap and groundline attaching the
lift trap to the rest of the trawl to the surface. Depending on the depth
fished and the volume of the air cylinder, SMELTS estimates that the
system can deploy six to 50 times without replacing the air cylinder.
The SMELTS lift bag system has gone through engineering trials in Cape
Cod Bay and Stellwagen Bank and will be used in commercial fishing
tests in Massachusetts and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence during
2019.
Finally, the ropeless retrieval system in development with Nova
Scotia-based Ashored Innovations was in the patent process at the time
of the Ropeless Consortium meeting, so limited information was
available on its design. However, in January 2019 Ashored Innovations
successfully filed a provisional patent and has since shared further in-
formation on their system. It uses a bottom-stowed coiled rope cage and
release mechanism consisting of a t-bar and drive shaft. When the de-
vice is acoustically triggered, the top of the cage is released and comes
to the surface with the attached buoy and rope. The current model has
been deployed with a programmed time release, with acoustic release
in development that has the potential to gather information on sea
conditions to improve fishing efficiency. Ashored Innovations is also
developing capacity to communicate location information via text using
Iridium satellite communications. The Ashored system has been de-
monstrated with the Coldwater Lobster Association off the southwest
coast of Nova Scotia.
3. Ropeless fishing regulations
At the Ropeless Consortium meeting, officials from NMFS's Greater
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and DFO discussed prospects to use
ropeless fishing gear in areas that are or could become closed to fishing
with vertical lines, as well as other options to reduce the threat of en-
tanglement to NARW and other species. A representative of the
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shared additional regulatory
considerations involved in ropeless fishing in state waters.
Interest in ropeless fishing in both Canada and the U.S. has been
driven in large part by the potential for fishermen to access important
fishing grounds that overlap with NARW habitat areas that either cur-
rently are or could become closed to trap/pot fishing with vertical lines.
In 2018, DFO implemented a system of static and dynamic management
areas in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence based on their best knowl-
edge of NARW aggregations in both 2017 and 2018. Although fish-
ermen in these areas still met snow crab quotas and continued to fish
lobster, there were costs associated with gear removal and fishing in
different areas prompted by time-area closures, and some fishermen
and associated industries were more affected than others. Demand for
ropeless fishing has increased because fishermen want to continue to
harvest in these areas without exposing NARWs to risk of entanglement.
Although 2019 fisheries management measures have not yet been an-
nounced, NARW arrival and residency times in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
in 2018 were comparable to 2017 [6], and DFO officials have signaled
that continued protective regulations in this area remain a high
priority.
DFO and other Canadian federal and provincial agencies have
provided significant support for ropeless gear testing. The Atlantic
Fisheries Fund and the Province of New Brunswick are supporting 15
subprojects over three years with the Acadian Crabber's Association,
Association des Pêcheurs Professionnels Crabiers Acadiens, and
Crabiers du Nord-Est, including tests of Desert Star, Edgetech, and
SMELTS retrieval systems and development of ropeless gear tracking
technologies. The Atlantic Fisheries Fund and the Province of Nova
Scotia have jointly funded the Coldwater Lobster Association to test
Desert Star gear. DFO has also provided financial support to the Grand
Manan Fishermen's Association to test Desert Star gear and to Ashored
Innovations to develop and test newly designed ropeless gear.
At present, the Canadian Fisheries General Regulations (s27) [14]
require trap/pot fishing gear to be identified through a surface buoy
system. Ropeless fishing would violate that regulation. DFO has shown
willingness to provide experimental fishing licenses for fishermen in-
terested in testing ropeless gear and a desire to continue supporting
additional ropeless fishing tests in 2019. Canadian fishing regulations
are implemented as conditions on licenses; therefore, ropeless fishing
could potentially advance as a condition that certain licenses could only
be fished without the use of a buoy and endline.
Similarly, fishermen affected by the seasonal closures in the
Massachusetts Restricted Area (Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bays) and
the Great South Channel have repeatedly requested access to fishing in
these areas during closure periods. Ropeless fishing may provide an
opportunity for them to do so. In 2010, NMFS did not allow ropeless
fishing in the Great South Channel closure area despite consensus by
the advisory Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team. However, on
September 28th, 2018, NMFS published an Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to modify the Massachusetts Trap/Pot Restricted Area and
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
5
the Great South Channel Trap/Pot Restricted Area to allow ropeless
fishing [20].
This proposed rule would change the definition of these particular
closed areas under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to prohibit trap/
pot fishing with a vertical line, instead of all trap/pot fishing [20].
However, fishermen interested in fishing ropeless in the closures would
need to apply for and receive an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP, al-
lowed for under the Magnuson Act) from NMFS to receive an exemption
from surface-system marking requirements. Since only fishermen who
receive an approved EFP (which often contain research or data col-
lection conditions) would be allowed to fish in closed areas, NMFS
could closely monitor this initial experiment in commercial ropeless
fishing. Allowing commercial ropeless fishing in the closed areas would
offer an important economic incentive for fishermen to test different
ropeless retrieval and marking systems in actual fishing conditions, an
important step in the cooperative, iterative development and adoption
of ropeless fishing gear.
EFPs can also be allotted for ropeless fishing outside of current
closure areas, though conflicts with mobile fishing gear, such as scallop
dredgers, remain a top concern for trap/pot fisheries that want to use
ropeless systems. NMFS has compiled a map of areas currently closed to
mobile gear either year-round or for part of the year for habitat pro-
tection or to prevent gear conflicts, available at www.greateratlantic.
fisheries.noaa.gov/ropeless. In addition to testing in presently closed
areas where the incentive is high and informal agreements could be
made with mobile fishermen, these areas outside of closed areas but
with no mobile gear fishing allowed are also strong options to begin
experimenting with ropeless gear. NMFS also has a Gear Research
Group that provides research expertise and some funding for fishermen
involved in gear testing, and has solicited interest from fishermen to
test ropeless gear.
In the U.S., additional regulations will be needed to allow ropeless
fishing in state waters. For example, the Massachusetts Division of
Marine Fisheries (DMF) requires the use of vertical lines and surface
systems for trap/pot fishing in state waters (as do other states).
However, because this is a state regulation, not a state statute, DMF can
provide a Letter of Authorization for a set period of time to allow gear
experimentation in state waters, and did so in July 2018 to allow a
member of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association and the
International Fund for Animal Welfare to demonstrate the Desert Star
ropeless system. Fishermen who operate with a federal permit would
need to receive an EFP for ropeless gear use from NMFS as well. In
certain states, finding areas where mobile and fixed gear do not both
occur can be very difficult. The Northeast Data Portal contains in-
formation on commercial fishing activity tracked using Vessel
Monitoring System (VMS) data; trap/pot fishermen could use this data
to identify potential areas to test ropeless systems where the likelihood
of co-occurrence with mobile gear is low.
Significant concerns about ropeless gear enforcement have been
expressed in both the U.S. and Canada. Officials responsible for
checking gear compliance need to have the ability to haul gear to
evaluate whether traps meet escape panel requirements, legal bait is
being used, weak links and sinking groundline are being used, etc.
Similarly, trap limits are typically enforced with individual trap tags in
both countries, and enforcement must be able to document these tags.
Enforcement officials must have the capacity to retrieve and deploy
ropeless gear. Moreover, developing a ropeless locating system would
also likely require regulatory management of an acoustic- and GPS-
compatible location data sharing system.
4. Developing a consumer market advantage
At the Ropeless Consortium meeting, representatives of the Marine
Stewardship Council and the New England Aquarium's Fisheries and
Aquaculture Solutions Program at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean
Life discussed using consumer market advantages, such as
environmental evaluations of fisheries, to reduce the ecosystem impacts
of fishing. These evaluations include scoring of bycatch and en-
dangered, threatened, and protected species impacts in sustainability
criteria and traceability in sustainable seafood markets, among other
factors. Moore [18] has also recently described how consumer demand
can encourage reduced cetacean bycatch in trap/pot fisheries.
Developing a consumer market advantage for lobster, crab, and
other trap/pot fishing products caught using ropeless gear could offer
an economic incentive to support fishermen in transitioning to and
operating ropeless gear. Although the sustainability of the target stock
is a key consideration in sustainable seafood certifications, growing
awareness of the impacts on non-target species and surrounding eco-
systems has encouraged some certification groups to update some of
their requirements, particularly around endangered, threatened, and
protected species bycatch.
A significant portion of the seafood sold in the North American and
European markets comes from companies that have committed to
buying and selling some amount of sustainable seafood. Corporate/
NGO partnerships such as those that are a part of the Conservation
Alliance for Seafood Solutions and the Seafood Alliance support com-
panies in identifying and purchasing sustainable products. Some com-
panies consider specific factors, such as the health of the target stock,
fishery management, the impact of fishing gear on bycatch and habitat,
and how those are managed. Others depend on third-party certifiers
and NGO ratings and commit to buying a proportion of certified pro-
ducts or products that meet a sustainability rating.
A number of trap/pot and gillnet fisheries in the northwest Atlantic
have the potential to put NARW at entanglement risk, including some
that are currently certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or
in full assessment (Table 2). Following the 2017 unusual mortality
event, the Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery's MSC certification
was suspended in March 2018 due to the entanglements attributed to
the fishery through gear identification. The fishery was recently audited
to assess progress, with results expected in March 2019. The Îles de la
Madeleine and Gulf of Maine lobster fisheries and three Canadian snow
crab fisheries include specific NARW conditions within their MSC cer-
tifications. Similarly, the fixed gear sector of the MSC-certified Mid-
Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery also has conditions around NARWs, and a
herring gillnet fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is currently being
evaluated for NARW impacts. This means that over the course of the
five-year certificate, these fisheries are required to show progress on
documenting their impacts on NARWs, updating management measures
Table 2
MSC fisheries that overlap with NARW range. Source: www.msc.org/.
Fishery Name Gear MSC status Jurisdiction
AQIP snow crab (northern GoSL) Pots/traps In assessment Canada
AQIP Gulf of St. Lawrence
Greenland halibut
Gillnets,
longlines
In assessment Canada
Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf and
Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence
lobster
Pots/traps Certified Canada
Canada Atlantic halibut Gillnets,
longlines
Certified Canada
Canada Scotia Fundy haddock Gillnets,
longlines
Certified Canada
Eastern Canada offshore lobster Pots/traps Certified Canada
Gaspésie lobster Pots/traps Certified Canada
Gulf of Maine lobster Pots/traps Certified U.S.
Gulf of St. Lawrence fall herring Gillnets Certified Canada
Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab Pots/traps Suspended Canada
Îles de la Madeleine lobster Pots/traps Certified Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador snow
crab
Pots/traps Certified Canada
Prince Edward Island lobster Pots/traps Certified Canada
Scotian Shelf snow crab Pots/traps Certified Canada
U.S. Atlantic spiny dogfish Gillnets Certified U.S.
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
6
for NARWs, reducing risk of serious injuries or mortalities to NARWs or
some combination of all these.
The MSC is currently revising their standard in relation to en-
dangered, threatened, and protected species and phasing in a require-
ment in which the cumulative impacts of certified fisheries on protected
species will be assessed collectively, such that the overall impacts of all
trap/pot and gillnet fisheries on the NARW population could lead to
reconsideration of individual certifications. This requirement is already
mandatory for some certified fisheries, like the snow crab fisheries and
the Îles de la Madeleine lobster fishery. As more fisheries become re-
certified, they will have to consider cumulative impacts from all fish-
eries adhering to this new requirement.
However, impacts to NARWs from fisheries that are not MSC cer-
tified are not included in the MSC cumulative impacts requirement.
Some company policies, such as those of Walmart Inc. and the Kroger
Co., support purchasing seafood products from fisheries that are not
certified or do not meet a sustainability ranking if they are involved in a
fishery improvement project. Fishery improvement projects recognized
by NGOs in the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions engage
different stakeholders, including seafood suppliers, fishing industry,
and seafood industry members, among others to address environmental
challenges in a fishery. These efforts may provide another market
pathway for crab, lobster, and seafood products from fisheries inter-
ested in adopting ropeless gear.
5. Conclusion
Although ropeless fishing marking, retrieval, and enforcement sys-
tems are not currently ready to be used at scale in Atlantic lobster and
snow crab fisheries or the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, interest in
ropeless fishing has increased significantly in response to the 2017
NARW unusual mortality event, the growing entanglement risk on both
coasts, and increased changes in fisheries management. Ropeless fishing
offers a very strong option to eliminate the threat of entanglement to
NARWs and other marine species in the long term and the potential
ability to continue fishing in closed areas in the short term. There is an
urgent need for iterative research and development of ropeless fishing
in commercial operations, which can take place immediately by in-
tegrating ropeless gear into a legally fished gear system that has end-
lines and buoys. Further testing of truly ropeless gear (without endlines
and buoys) can happen through Exempted Fishing Permits or licenses
and/or expanded closures that allow ropeless fishing. The capacity to
regulate and enforce ropeless fishing must progress in parallel.
The window for preventing extinction of NARWs is short. Ropeless
fishing needs to advance quickly to help avert the existing NARW en-
tanglement crisis and address the immediate need to reduce wildlife
entanglements off the U.S. West Coast while keeping the fishing in-
dustry viable. Market incentives and opportunities to fish in otherwise
closed areas will help to accelerate much-needed development and
adoption. Fishing, management, enforcement, conservation, and man-
ufacturing stakeholders all share the goal of establishing economically
and ecologically sustainable fisheries while protecting NARWs and
other marine wildlife. Their collaboration through the Ropeless
Consortium forms a strong foundation for the work needed to achieve
that goal.
Declaration of interest
None.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgments
We thank speakers at the Ropeless Consortium meeting for their
presentations and review of this report.
Appendix
Presentation title Speaker
Welcome and scientific update Michael Moore, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Update from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team Scott Kraus, New England Aquarium
Ropeless gear retrieval and marking systems
Ropeless acoustic trap/pot marking systems Mark Baumgartner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
An ‘endless season’ of ropeless fishing trials, Desert Star Systems Marco Flagg, Desert Star Systems LLC
Development and testing of line free fishing gear to reduce entanglement of North Atlantic right whales Richard Riels, SMELTS
EdgeTech Ropeless Fishing System Rob Morris, EdgeTech
Fiobuoy F Series, a ropeless buoy solution to marine entanglements John Fiotakis, Fiomarine
Ashored Innovations Maxwell Poole, Ashored Innovations
On-call buoy, bottom-stowed line spool Keenan Ball, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Experimental gear testing and feedback
MLA and IFAW working hard to preserve right whales Dave Casoni, MLA and C.T. Harry, IFAW
Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fleet Robert Hache, ACA
Initial ropeless gear trials in the California Dungeness crab fishery Geoff Shester, Oceana
NOAA Fisheries' Northeast Fisheries Science Center gear research Henry Milliken, NOAA Fisheries
Experimental fisheries and regulatory and policy change
Ropeless experimentation and the regulatory landscape Michael Asaro, NOAA Fisheries
Whale-safe fishing gear to reduce the incidence of entanglements in North Atlantic right whales Ed Trippel, DFO
“Ropeless” fishing, the Massachusetts perspective Erin Burke, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
Market interests: Building a whale-safe advantage and investment opportunities
The MSC and North Atlantic right whales Marin Hawk, MSC
Seafood market connections Michelle Cho, New England Aquarium
Ropeless fishing investor interest Stephan Reckie and Nick Lukianov, Angelus Funding
Wrap-up
Ropeless Consortium board election Heather Pettis, New England Aquarium
Ropeless Consortium summary and board election Michael Moore, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
7
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Hannah J. Myers
a,b,∗
, Michael J. Moore
a
, Mark F. Baumgartner
a
,
Sean W. Brillant
c
, Steven K. Katona
d
, Amy R. Knowlton
e
,
Lyne Morissette
f
, Heather M. Pettis
e
, Geoff Shester
g
,
Timothy B. Werner
e
a
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department, 266 Woods
Hole Rd., Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
b
International Fund for Animal Welfare, 290 Summer St., Yarmouth Port,
MA 02675, USA
c
Canadian Wildlife Federation, Dalhousie University - Department of
Oceanography, 1355 Oxford St, PO Box 15000, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2,
Canada
d
College of the Atlantic, 105 Eden St. Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
e
New England Aquarium, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, 1 Central
Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, USA
f
M - Expertise Marine, 10, rue Luce-Drapeau, Sainte-Luce, QC G0K 1P0,
Canada
g
Oceana, 99 Pacific St., Suite 155C, Monterey, CA 93940, USA
E-mail addresses: hmyers@whoi.edu (H.J. Myers),
mmoore@whoi.edu (M.J. Moore),
mbaumgartner@whoi.edu (M.F. Baumgartner),
seanb@cwf-fcf.org (S.W. Brillant),
steven.katona1@gmail.com (S.K. Katona),
aknowlton@neaq.org (A.R. Knowlton),
Lyne@m-expertisemarine.com (L. Morissette),
hpettis@neaq.org (H.M. Pettis), gshester@oceana.org (G. Shester),
twerner@neaq.org (T.B. Werner).
∗
Corresponding author. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Biology Department, 266 Woods Hole Rd., Marine Research Facility 235 (MS #50), Woods Hole,
MA 02543, USA.
Marine Policy 107 (2019) 103587
8
