Dear Editor:

Being a recreational lobsterman with five traps hauled by hand from my late father-in-law’s handmade, 50-year-old, 15-foot flat bottom skiff, I am very concerned about the proposed new regulations and what that could mean to the small lobsterman. I am a CPA desk jockey at Bowdoin College and hauling traps has been my summer passion for over ten years. I worry that if allowed only one buoy for five traps, this will cause a very restrictive and dangerous situation to all small lobstermen.

First, my skiff will not hold five traps.

Second, the danger to any lobsterman with that much rope underfoot is a serious hazard.

Third, if I need to drop five traps in a row, I will be severely limited in where I can fish without tangling with other traps and objects and if my buoy line gets cut by a pleasure boat I will lose all five traps.

Please ask your congressmen to block this regulation change and tell them to find another way to protect the wales.

Thomas C. Boudin

Edgecomb