Massachusetts and Maine Rope Buybacks This Month

Lobstermen and fishermen from the gillnet, crab, sea bass, conch or hagfish fisheries are invited to turn in old, used or retired endlines or groundlines at regional buybacks during the week of April 20, 2015.  Buyback locations will be determined based on location of participants, and pre-registration is encouraged.

These regional buybacks are the next in a year-long series of collections to procure 180,000 pounds of rope for New York artist Orly Genger, who will transform it into a monumental sculpture to be permanently installed in South Korea.

Since 2009, site-specific works by Genger have been created from hundreds of thousands of pounds of retired rope from the Maine, Massachusetts and offshore lobster and crab fisheries.

The target diameter of line sought for these buybacks is half-inch, but line slightly thinner or thicker  (7/16” or 9/16”) may also be acceptable.  Line can be any length over 3 fathoms (20 feet) and can be any type of sink rope, polysteel, Manline, or neutrally buoyant “whale” rope.  The rope must be clean and coiled so as to be manageable for handling and shipping.  Rope will be weighed on-site and each contributing fisherman will receive fifty cents per pound ($.50/lb).

There will be one additional regional rope buyback during the summer of 2015, and fishermen from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia are encouraged to participate in that final round.

Laura Ludwig, currently project director at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, ran the federal groundline exchange for the Maine lobster industry from 2006-2012 with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation.  For more information or to register for the rope buybacks, contact Laura at 207-263-5300 or [email protected].