Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at the US-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said his career has been deeply influenced by the late Newfoundland marine biologist Jon Lien. Lien was known for developing techniques to free whales caught in fishing lines and freed hundreds of animals during his career. Moore said Lien first told him about the whale-saving potential of ropeless fishing gear four decades ago during a road trip to Newfoundland. “Forty-three years later, his hope and his prophecy are coming true,” Moore said of Lien in a recent interview. “It’s very special.” Lineless fishing technology is still in its infancy, but there are high hopes among scientists and fishermen that it will result in fewer whales getting entangled in fishing lines and help fishermen. Efforts to develop the new fishing methods are focused on the endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which there are estimated to be only 336 left in the world. Jon Lien rescues a whale from fishing gear in this undated file photo. Moore co-authored a 2020 study that claimed 85 percent of right whale deaths between 2010 and 2015 were caused by entanglements with fishing gear. Scientists like Moore hope that the widespread adoption of ropeless gear will limit these entanglements and allow the species to recover. Last month, acoustic technology developed by Jasco Applied Sciences was placed in crab and lobster traps deployed along the shores of Harbor Breton and just outside the harbor of St. John’s. The trial run was launched through a partnership between Jasco, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society, and the commercial fishing arm of the Miawpukek First Nation. Anglers can release the traps into the water and find them again via an audible signal, said Jasco engineering director John Moloney. The traps are equipped with inflatable bladders that anglers can activate when it’s time to bring them to the surface. Traditional traps are attached to buoys with long ropes that float vertically in the water, and passing whales can become snared on the lines. Without long fishing lines, there are fewer dangers lurking in the water. Whales are also entangled in what are called “ghost gear” – huge tangles of nets that have been loosened and left to drift endlessly through the water. The ghost gear is pulled out of the water. (DFO) Ropeless traps will have a much higher recovery rate than traditional gear, Moloney said. And if a trap is lost, it won’t be attached to dangerous ropes, he added. The Jasco technology is also being tested in the United States, Moloney said. Some of those tests involve a group called the No-Rope Consortium, of which Moore is a part. Both Moloney and Moore said they agreed that the cost of ropeless gear is currently a barrier to its widespread use, but Moloney said Jasco’s technology will make it more affordable. He also said ropeless traps will last for about 10 seasons, while traditional gear is often only used for one. There are also bureaucratic hurdles in the way of ropeless technology: The federal Department of Fisheries has supported its development but still has to figure out how to regulate it, Moloney said. However, he believes the technology is on the right track. “I think 10 years from now, when you start talking about line fishing, people are going to look at you like you’re weird,” Moloney said. “It will replace the rope, for sure.” Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador