PROJECTS: The Ventless Trap Survey

Since 2001, the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (GOMLF) has worked with a network of industry associations, government scientists and lobstermen throughout the Gulf of Maine to collect data on the sublegal lobster population. Currently 35 lobstermen in Maine are actively collecting data across all seven lobster zones. Ten lobstermen from Massachusetts will join the project in 2005.

The GOMLF works closely with a non-profit industry-based research organization in Canada, the Fishermen and Scientists Research Society (FSRS), which currently has more than 135 lobstermen deploying ventless traps to collect data throughout Atlantic Canada. see website

The goal of this project is to develop a long-term time series of size and abundance data on the sublegal portion of the lobster population to determine whether the number of sublegal lobsters across various locations in the Gulf of Maine are increasing or decreasing over time. The project also examines the impacts of various trap types, bait, bottom substrate, temperature and depth on the abundance of sublegal lobsters.

Volunteer lobstermen deploy three traps as “a triple” consisting of a regular trap which serves as a control, a ventless trap, and a standardized ventless trap containing a temperature recorder. The ventless deployment is fished at a fixed location throughout the year, preferably in shallow water (<10 Fathom) on hard bottom. Repeated surveys from the same area allow for comparisons between seasons and areas. Participants haul the ventless deployment during normal fishing rotation and record data at least twice per month, and optimally once a week.

Lobstermen provide information on the location of the ventless deployment including latitude/longitude, depth and bottom type. Each time the ventless deployment is hauled, lobstermen provide information on the date, time, number of soak days, bait, wind speed and direction. Lobstermen measure each lobster caught in the ventless deployment using the standard slotted measuring gauge and record information on the size, sex, egg stage, and v-notch state. Finally, lobstermen are asked to provide a summary of their commercial catch including pounds landed and number of traps fished.