ROUND POND, ME –Local lobstermen and members of the business community here teamed up with 25 volunteers from around the state to clean 220 derelict lobster traps from the shores of Bar Island in Muscongus Bay.

“This project shows what can be accomplished when diverse groups work together to tackle a tough problem,” said Doug Welch, Executive Director of the Maine Island Trail Association (MITA), which coordinated the event. “We received an extraordinary level of cooperation from our partners on this project, including local fishermen, the Round Pound Village Improvement Society, the Maine Coastal Program, the State Marine Patrol, and the island owners themselves.

“National Geographic Adventurer magazine recently judged the Maine Island Trail to be one of the nation’s hottest adventure destinations, thanks in large part to stewardship efforts like this. When a community works together to keep beautiful places pristine, great things happen.”

Funding for the event was provided through a grant from the Bonnell Cove Foundation, a charitable non-profit organized by the Cruising Club of America, Welch said. The Maine Coastal Program contributed funds for disposal as did Regional Rubbish of Walpole and Corcoran Enterprises of Kennebunk which will recycle the trap metal.

The event was designed to address what has become an intractable problem on some of the state’s most picturesque shorelines. As Brian Marcaurelle, MITA’s Stewardship Director, explained, thousands of lobster traps are lost every year due to everyday wear and tear on the equipment and the effects of strong storms. State law prohibits the removal of this gear so that fishermen have a chance to recover their property. However, since most of the gear is damaged beyond repair by the time it washes up, it never gets reclaimed and keeps accumulating near the high tide line.

“The problem is especially bad on Bar Island in Muscongus Bay because of the prevailing currents and its proximity to the fishing grounds,” Marcaurelle said. “More than 50 traps washed ashore in the past year alone.”

The clean-up was the culmination of a two-year effort to clear the unsightly, rusted debris from Bar. The groundwork was laid when members of the Southern Maine Sea Kayaking Network paddled out to the island to record tag numbers for all of the traps. Working in conjunction with staff members from the Maine Coastal Program, the State Marine Patrol posted the tag numbers at local lobster co-ops so that fishermen could retrieve any traps they wanted to salvage.
This effort led to offers of assistance with the project from the Round Pond fishing and business communities. BJ Russell, head of the Round Pond Village Improvement Society, helped arrange parking, use of the town’s launch, and equipment to dispose of the collected traps. Local lobstermen Gary Clifford and Robert Ball, who is also the Round Pound Harbormaster, contributed boats and crew to haul the derelict traps back to the harbor.

“I’ve been fishing out here for 40-odd years and I know I’ve lost my share of gear,” said Ball. “It seems only right that I try to help clean up the mess.”

Local residents were assisted at the clean-up by dozens of MITA volunteers who scoured the island shoreline for traps and dragged them to the waterline. The gear was ferried via small skiffs to the two lobsterboats off shore which hauled the debris back to the Round Pond dock. From there, a local backhoe operator flattened the traps and filled two dumpsters to overflowing.

Three local teens found the scene irresistible and pitched in for several hours to off-load the traps and fill the dumpsters. One summarized the day succinctly: “It was pretty awesome.”