Their goal is to try to reduce the number of entanglements that could kill endangered North Atlantic right whales.
“Going rope-less is the only way we know for sure that whale entanglements will be completely avoided,” Time Werner, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium and principal investigator, said.
Werner and his team will be testing fishing gear that employs a large floating spool instead of vertical rope lines.
Scientists estimate there are only about 450 right whales left in the ocean, and there have been no documented births this season.
The team also hopes to reduce entanglements of leatherback sea turtles, which is a vulnerable species likely to become endangered.
Werner expects the study to begin by the end of this year or early next year.
Funding for the study comes from a federal grant worth more than $226,000 awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .
