U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) headed a Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard hearing Tuesday about controversial provisions of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Many area fishermen spoke out against new rope regulations included in the rule.—STAFF PHOTO BY CYNDI WOOD

BREWER — Lobstermen on Tuesday expressed frustration with controversial new federal regulations that will force most Maine lobstermen to replace the rope connecting their traps, called groundlines, with new sinking rope.

The provisions of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan were the focus of a special hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Maine U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe presided over the hearing at Jeff’s Catering.

The rule, adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service last October, requires compliance by next October — in the middle of Maine’s peak lobster season.

Snowe, the subcommittee’s ranking member, said she had concerns about the feasibility of implementing the rule on such a short timeline.

And she’s worried about the potentially devastating cost to lobstermen.

“It’s no exaggeration that this could put many lobstermen out of business,” Snowe said.

She said some estimates by the lobster industry anticipate an average cost of $10,000 to $15,000 for a lobsterman to replace all his rope.

She added that annual replacement costs may exceed $9,000.

“It places an unacceptable and unnecessary burden on our fishermen,” Snowe said of the rule.

Jim Lecky, director of protected resources for the National Marine Fisheries Service, explained that the new sinking ground rope is designed to prevent whales, particularly the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, from becoming entangled in fishing gear.

Groundlines are used to connect several traps together and can form loops that float above the sea floor.

These loops pose a threat to whales that dive close to the ocean bottom to feed, according to advocates of the new regs.

The new sinking ropes might pose a risk for fishermen, lobstermen argue.

The rocky sea floor and strong tides Downeast can make it easy for the new ropes to snag and break, which can be dangerous for lobstermen who try to retrieve their traps and costly for those who don’t.

Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said her organization and conservationists share “a common objective” in wanting to protect endangered whales.

The new regulations are not the way to achieve that goal, she said.

“Lobstermen should not be required to switch gear in the middle of the season,” McCarron said, adding that it would be nearly impossible for all lobstermen to make the change in time due to the limited availability of sinking rope.

She added that the lobster industry was essentially at the mercy of rope manufacturers, who do not always label rope correctly or produce it in the quantities needed.

“We’re the ones that are going to get fined or potentially have a license sanction while they go about their business,” McCarron said.

She also said the rules seemed particularly harsh in Downeast Maine, where right whale sightings are “extremely rare.”

Both she and Snowe pointed out that there was little information on whale behavior patterns off the coast of Maine to substantiate the need for such regulations.

Many in the lobster industry also question the durability of the sinking rope. Some lobstermen say it is more susceptible to wear and needs to be replaced frequently.

McCarron urged the National Marine Fisheries Service to postpone the enactment of the new regulations and do more testing and research.

She pointed out that the regulations on groundlines could cause lobsterman to put down more single traps.

This would place more vertical ropes (used to connect traps to buoys) in Downeast waters — which could increase the chances of whale entanglement.

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe said his department has worked on a plan to prevent that from happening.

The plan would allow lobstermen to use “low profile” rope, which is rope of a lower density, for their traps.

The state has sent the plan to the Fisheries Service, where it is under peer review. It will probably be given to the Large Whale Take Reduction Plan task force in the spring.

Lapointe said there are no plans to push back the Oct. 1 deadline.

Vicki Cornish, representing the conservation group The Ocean Conservancy, a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that forced the Marine Fisheries Service to implement the regulations, said, “We have heard Maine lobstermen say that their industry is sustainable, but true sustainability is about more than just sustaining lobsters.”

She said she hoped lobstermen and conservationists could work together to ease the transition to the new sinking rope.

Meanwhile, lobstermen are getting financial help for the costly gear changeover.

The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation’s Bottom Line Project offers vouchers for discounts off the new ropes for every pound of floating rope a lobsterman turns in at a “rope exchange.”

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) also recently announced a program of commercial loans and loan insurance to help lobsterman sustain replacement costs.