Wellfleet Public Library

Ropeless Buoys: Using Innovating Technologies and Collaborations to Protect Whales and Sustain Fisheries is estimated that over 300,000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises are killed by entanglement in fishing gear every year. Ropeless lobster traps are a new technology being developed to reduce the risk. On-demand fishing gear trials show promise in reducing right whale entanglements that may help support the continuation of economically and culturally important fisheries in areas closed to fishing with static vertical lines. While there are benefits of the "on-demand" fishing gear, including one of safety for lobstermen, there are also serious issues with the traps.

Come hear about the developing topic with Henry Milliken, Supervisory Research Fishery Biologist at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, and Regina Asmutis-Silvia, ExecutiveDirector and Senior Biologist for Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Plymouth.