I see why lobsterman hate divers...

[Scubaroo]

I think you made this hole story up.

Guys, check the date on this thread before responding to 3 year old posts and accusing very well-known board members of being liars!

 

[Spectre]

I dont take lobsters but any time i see a trap with no lines on it, i open it up if something is in it. Do you want my boat registration number so you can report me.
It seems to me If you grabbed a lobster out of your buddies trap you where breaking the law also. I think you made this hole story up.

Dumbass.. my buddy was on the boat.

You might want to check the local laws. In massachusetts it's illegal to touch a trap that isn't yours [or someone's who hired you to do salvage it... so you don't pull that 'you're breaking the law also' crap]. FWIW, there's no requirement to have lobster traps marked on the surface. If you have a surface buoy, it has to have your id number and colors. But there is nothing to say it has to have a buoy. We have set traps in very specific places [near a big hole in the hull where we've watched monster sized bugs file in and out of during the night]. A line will just get fouled on the tide change. We drop the trap, lift bag it into place, and retrieve it via scuba. Any tree-hugger that wants to save those lobsters should be smart enough to look and see that it's an actively fished trap.... unless they are a dumbass.

A little context may be in order as well; We used to [at the time that I posted this] zip tie our traps closed. We find those zip ties cut off. We shifted to using steel crimps now, since it's a hell of a lot harder to get those off without the right tool.

Where we keep our traps is notorious for diver interference. it's in 20 feet of water and the water is often in the 70s due to the tidal warming, and it's one of the only interesting things in the area bay-side. It is definately an issue.

Now I'm going to assume you open traps to save the poor lobsters getting caught in ghost traps. Guess what; you're not doing **** to save them, you're actually destroying their habitat. They aren't trapped. You're pulling the roof off their homes.

My ex-wife did her PhD at UNH. One of the projects in their lab was to video lobsters interaction in traps. I spent hours watching video of lobsters entering, eating, and exiting traps. Traps don't trap lobsters, it provides a shelter with food, and it's a matter of finding lobsters in the shelter, not lobsters trapped in a trap. Feel free to watch the video. http://www.lobsters.unh.edu/ultrasonic_tracking/shelter_videos/shelter_videos.html

"made it up". Damn you are a dumbass.

 

[Spectre]

Do you want my boat registration number so you can report me.

p.s. yes.

 

[Sideband]

Peacefull greetings. I'm in the midwest with no lobsters, lobster traps, lobstermen or lobster thieves. In other words, I don't have a dog in this race. I am curious though how the "traps" work. One side makes it sound like they go in and can not get out, like an animal live trap. The other side I'm hearing is the bugs can come and go as they please and it is a matter of placing the trap in a location that the critters would like to live then pulling the trap up when "everyone is at home". Could someone describe the trap or point me to a good picture/description? I looked at the site linked above but wasn't sure what I was looking at. The videos seemed to be little sections of PVC pipe while the lobster TV things were more of cage. Any help appreciated as I'm not in a prime location to ask around here.

Joe

 

[Spectre]

The videos seemed to be little sections of PVC pipe while the lobster TV things were more of cage. Any help appreciated as I'm not in a prime location to ask around here.

Yea, it's a cage. A good description of them can be found:

http://www.lobsterinstitute.org/education/trap.php

The videos on this page are a top view of a lobster trap with a pexi top, rather than a mesh top:

http://www.lobsters.unh.edu/lobster_tv/observations/observations.html

This might help also:

http://www.fishingnj.org/dialobs.htm

 

[ScubaSarus]

tHE SAD thing is that divers are not taught about game and wildlfe laws. It should be part of the dive certification especially for the state they are certified in . I know we can not cover all 50 states but at least have respect for lobster traps as part of the course.

 

[gfisher4792]

Peacefull greetings. I'm in the midwest with no lobsters, lobster traps, lobstermen or lobster thieves. In other words, I don't have a dog in this race. I am curious though how the "traps" work.
Joe

Here are a couple of other sites that I found useful:
http://www.crewdog.net/lobsterpage/lbstrng/lgfact.html
http://www.lobsters.org/

 

[decapoddiver]

tHE SAD thing is that divers are not taught about game and wildlfe laws.

Since when is it the State's job to educate divers about the laws? It is the diver's job to know the laws. As divers I hope that all of us take the time to learn and remember all the laws directly and indirectly affecting us.

 

[RIOceanographer]

tHE SAD thing is that divers are not taught about game and wildlfe laws. It should be part of the dive certification especially for the state they are certified in . I know we can not cover all 50 states but at least have respect for lobster traps as part of the course.

The problem usually isn't that people who do things like that don't know any better, the problem is usually that they just don't care. All the training in the world won't fix that.

 

[Sideband]

Thanks for the links guys. I always figured it was much more of a trap in the sense that they could walk in but not out at all. Ya learn something every day if you're willing to ask the questions. Thanks again.

Joe