Maine's fishing industry is facing enormous challenges this year.

Many of the state's 5,800 commercial lobstermen will be spending thousands dollars to buy "whale-safe" gear so they can comply with new federal rules for protecting the endangered right whale. The rules go into effect in October.

Meanwhile, Maine's groundfishing industry will continue to shrink, and there is no indication that things will turn around in the near future.

In pure economics, though, the new lobster rules will have the biggest impact simply because the $300 million lobster industry is so huge. Maine is by far the biggest lobster-producing state, accounting for 80 percent of America's landing.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has drawn a line along the Maine coast that roughly parallels the boundary between state and federal waters three miles offshore. Most commercial lobstermen in Maine fish beyond that line for at least part of the season.

Starting in October, lobstermen who work beyond that line will have to connect their traps using heavy lines that sink to the bottom.

Maine lobstermen generally prefer to use floating lines because they don't get snagged by rocks, particularly Downeast, where the ocean floor is rocky and strong tides push the lines around.

The Fisheries Service estimates that the plan would affect 2,900 to 3,700 East Coast lobster boats and raise the cost of doing business by $12.3 million annually.

The Maine Lobstermen's Association, though, believes that every full-time lobsterman will have to buy new gear, at the cost of about $12,000 per boat, or $15 million to $20 million for the industry.

Maine's groundfishermen are facing even tougher restrictions.

The entire industry in New England is contracting because it's now so difficult to for many boats to make money. The region is in the middle of a 10-year federal plan that seeks to rebuild fish stocks, mainly by reducing the number of days fishermen can fish and closing some areas to fishing.

Over the past year, 20 percent of the active boats in New England have quit groundfishing.

Many Portland-based draggers are now fishing more frequently out of Massachusetts ports-- or moving permanently to Massachusetts -- because the Bay State allows the boats to sell lobsters caught in their nets. Maine law bans the practice.

Officials at the city-owned Portland Fish Exchange hope that the draggers will return to Maine his spring and summer, when the lobsters migrate closer to shore and away from fishing grounds.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com