Glad you asked! The cost is often the first thing that people talk about, but I don't think that's the central issue. After all, many of the people pushing for the industry to be mandated to use ropeless agree that the government should grant hefty subsidies to the manufacturers to offset the cost. That's a bit unfair to the taxpayer, I think, who should not need to fund the arbitrarily exorbitant infrastructure of a fishery that already functions perfectly well with its existing gear. In my own view , the core problem with ropeless is the fact that it inherently changes the very concept of fishing from something that can be done efficiently and profitably by a diverse fleet of boats, to something which only a very few big boats would be able to turn a profit at. The ropeless workflow renders obsolete the skills by which thousands of people fish "normally", adds a whole plethora of new potential immediate problems that may at times be solvable, but will absolutely slow the day's productivity to a snail's pace compared to what guys can do with real fishing gear, and alters the very dynamics of the community in ways that raise a fisherman's blood pressure to even think about. (For instance, gone now would be their ability to visually assess the areas that they are setting or hauling in because they can't see the presence or absence of buoys around them. They either have to work totally blindly and risk getting completely snarled [tangled] up with other guys' gear, or every one of them loses all privacy & their every position is available on a digital map for everyone else to see, which is another dynamic that would stress a fisherman out...they generally do not broadcast where they are setting or shifting, where they are doing well etc. Having their every move publicly mapped out in realtime, which is the only realistic scenario for allowing people to navigate the gear of others, adds a pressure that would inevitably cause conflict) Ropeless transforms a job that most of these guys love to do and are adept at doing into something that they would dread to do. A few could probably make it work, but it would undoubtedly force out most of the owner-operator boats, and the independent Area 1 would then be dominated by corporate outfits. Some would leave the business because they couldn't turn a profit, some would leave because they detest the way their daily life has to be re-engineered, some would leave because they don't find the new workplace hazards worth it (because accidents happen, people do get hauled overboard every year and they can usually be rescued via the rope in the gear...ropeless takes away a key lifeline for when those accidents happen)...they already risk their lives in an unpredictable and dangerous environment. The arbitrary hurdles of the ropeless workflow unnecessarily complicate an already difficult job. Ropeless is ultimately something suited for a controlled environment, or for the metaverse, but it's dangerously out of sync with the real world that these guys would have to now make a living in with it. Hope that helps! We'll probably do more videos about this in the coming year, there were a few scenes in Vinalhaven Untrapped that address ropeless in some detail as well.

@@TheMaineReset Wow, I wasn't expecting such a thorough response! It's definitely a tricky situation with a lot of pieces that need to be solved really well in order to not have things fall apart. One big concern I have is that with the average age of a lobsterman being so high in Maine that the change will come at a time when they are all almost on their way out of the business anyways. Curious to hear your thoughts on the future of lobstering regarding the younger generation trying to get into the business? I'd imagine they may have an easier time adopting something new (if the cost isn't a problem and if the technical concerns you brought up can be solved), but without the future workforce will it go the route of fewer and fewer owner operated boats regardless of whether ropeless gear is mandated or not?

@@cormachondros There are tons of young people on the waiting list to get their own fishing license. I don’t think there is a lack of a future workforce. The issue might be that young people see all of the bullshit being forced on the industry, and just because it might be easier for them to adapt to new technology and methods of fishing, doesn’t mean they want to. As someone in my early 20s working on my apprentice hours, the draw to fishing is how free it feels out on the water, the independence of working for yourself and running your boat the way you want to, being able to work hard, efficiently, and make a living directly from the resources the natural world has to offer. I want to be able to get through a lot of gear in one day. I don’t want to be slowed down by the extra loss of time of making sure that all of the rope gets coiled back up perfectly each time so that it doesn’t get snarled with itself while the buoys are trying to reach the surface. Mandating ropeless gear will kill the interest of the new generation. People won’t want to be owner operators if the costs of gear, fuel, and time don’t pay for themselves.