National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is tasked with protecting our nation’s living marine resources. OLE’s Northeast Division lists fishing gear compliance under the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act as one of its priorities for a sustainable lobster fishery. Additionally, identifying gear violations prohibited by the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act is a regional priority. Specific gear configurations such as weak rope, weak inserts and sinking ground lines are required to mitigate large whale entanglements. The need for inspecting the fixed lobster gear is two-fold. First, OLE must enforce regulations for the sustainability of the fishery. Second, the strict enforcement of trap limits and gear compliance could have a significant impact on the number of vertical and ground lines allowed in the water. The number of vertical and ground lines in the water directly correlates to the injury and mortality of large whale species to include the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. All data collected and hauling operations will be used to identify any violations, collect evidence and conduct follow up investigations and enforcement action.

Use of a 100’ or larger offshore support vessel (OSV) with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to provide imagery of lobster gear (traps and lines) in waters typically 20 to 200 nautical miles (NM) offshore of New England within depths up to 800 ft. Video and still images shall be retained and examined for compliance with federal fisheries and protected resources regulations. In addition, OLE personnel will request the hauling of suspected non-compliant gear aboard the vessel for inspection to ensure compliance with federal fisheries and protected resource regulations. Video and still images shall be retained for documentary and or potential evidence per agency policy. Non-compliant gear may be subject to seizure. Compliant gear shall then be re-deployed in a manner consistent with the original location and returned to the ocean floor in good working order with standard practices commonly used in the lobster industry.

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