With all the recent controversy surrounding ghost traps and biodegradable escape panels, there still remains a question in some lobstermen's minds whether ghost traps actually fish lobsters or just ghosts! Since the law mandating the installation of ghost panels in all traps has been delayed until January 1, 1990, researchers at the University of Maine in Orono are planning to use these two years to find out whether ghost traps really do, in fact, pose a problem for the industry and, if so, how serious it is.

Dr. Robert Bayer, professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at UM, along with graduate student George Kupelian and fishermen from Isleford, is designing an experiment to find out just what happens in the watery depths from a lobster's point of view. By installing a time lapse video camera near a series of lobster traps off Cranberry Islands, he will monitor all activity in and around the traps over a four-six month period for 24 hours a day. The camera will use a red light source since lobsters seem less sensitive to the color red. Using time lapse video, a couple of days of observations can be condensed into a few hours. These tapes could help answer the question that has been plaguing lobstermen, researchers, and marine resource managers for decades: do lost traps continue to trap lobsters which eventually starve to death- or can the lobsters escape?

Jack Merrill and Bruce Femald, both lobster fishermen of Cranberry Islands (Isleford), have volunteered to help with the experiment. They will assist scientists in finding appropriate sites for the traps, change the tapes, and check on the experiment on a day-to-day basis. A monitor on shore will show them what' s happening down below.

Questions which could be answered by this experiment are: Can lobsters go in and out of traps and at what frequency? Do lobsters escape from traps after a certain time period? What happens if the trap is baited one time? If the trap starts out empty? Do lobsters continue to enter traps after the bait is gone? What happens to lobsters in traps when there's no food? What do lobsters who stay inside the trap have in common? How much cannibalism is there among lobsters if they can't escape?

Additional observations will be made on which other animals are going in and out of traps, how bottom type (rocky, sandy, or muddy) affects activity, and day vs. night activity. Researchers will also record the weather conditions, water temperature, study the effects of wind and wave action on wood vs. metal traps, and observe the decay process of wooden traps.

Data obtained from this experiment may have far-reaching results. It could provide the kind of hard facts which legislators say they need to make an informed decision about the proposed ghost panel bill. Some lobstermen argued against the last regulation (which required that all traps be fitted with biodegradable escape panels by January 1, 1988) because they said that the technology for the panels had not been perfected. Others believe that ghost traps are not a problem and, therefore, escape panels are an unnecessary measure. Hopefully, this experiment will provide some solid information that will help clear the murky waters that are clouding the ghost panel issue.