NOAA Can Act to Smooth the Path Toward On-Demand Fishing

In a January 2023 letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), The Pew Charitable Trusts provided support for and recommendations on the agency’s strategy to encourage on-demand (also known as ropeless) fishing gear. These modern systems are an alternative to traditional gear used in lobster and crab fishing, which involves ropes that are known to entangle marine mammals, including critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Pew suggested that NOAA Fisheries outline clear goals, achievable timelines, and phases of experimental fishing to test the new gear technology. In addition, Pew recommended that the agency identify a strategy to overcome key challenges, including predictable conflicts between on-demand fishing systems and other types of gear, difficulties locating gear without buoys, and the need for on-demand systems from different manufacturers to detect each other.