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We are collaborating with 20 commercial lobster vessels to test on-demand (also called ropeless) fishing gear in state and federal waters that are closed to lobster and Jonah crab fishing with static vertical lines. These waters are off Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
For full details on the restricted area fishery and other aspects of this year’s plan, visit the 2025 experimental fishery web page.
The fixed gear involved in this research will not be visible at the surface since it has no surface buoys.
The following information is provided to help avoid gear conflict:
If you accidentally tow up an on-demand unit, please do not discard it. Retain the unit and reach out to the NEFSC Gear Research Team at nec.gearlibrary@noaa.gov or (508) 495-2000.
When you are within 5 nautical miles of on-demand trawls, you can “see” the gear positions and orientations on your smartphone or tablet using the free EarthRanger Buoy app, available from the Apple or Google app stores. TimeZero users can also view the gear positions on their charts with an experimental feature in version 5.
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Vessels conducting research will fly this flag. |
Testing Outside Restricted Areas
We are also testing on-demand systems year-round outside of the restricted area season. For those experiments the gear is marked with standard surface gear on one end while testing ropeless gear on the other end. The buoy marked end could be on either end. The Maine Department of Marine Resources and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries are also operating on-demand gear trials.
2025 ON-DEMAND GEAR RESTRICTED AREA RESEARCH AND TESTING LOCATIONS
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