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Corea -- As many as 25 lobster boats out of Corea confronted the Department of Marine Resources' survey trawler, Monday, October 22, renewing some uneasy relationships on the water and raising questions about the veracity of the collected data.
The spontaneous encounter occurred when the contracted traw-ler out of Portland, the Robert Michael, was in the area to tow in a previously designated spot. The survey, designed to assess stocks of all Gulf of Maine species, and conducted each spring and fall, is in its second year. Well-publicized in advance, it was timed to coordinate with the National Marine Fisheries Service's outer gulf work and Massachusetts early-fall survey, in order to coordinate a big survey snapshot of the region.
Tows, said Sally Sherman, the DMR biologist on the boat, are announced ahead of time through a number of channels, including mailings to zone councils, detailed announcements to lobster-men with Loran bearings, NOAA weather radio bulletins
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Trawl survey dragger, Robert Michael, being escorted out of Corea waters.
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throughout the day, plus a hotline contact. Fishermen are given the boat's telephone number and the office and home number of the survey chief, Dr. John Sowles.
Lobster fishermen were out tending gear that day when the
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Robert Michael entered the area.
Through radio communications, the fishermen approached the Robert Michael for a meeting of sorts. There was no intention to block the vessel and there was no antagonism, several fishermen said.
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