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Fisherman decides plastic pots way to go.
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17-06-2004
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CORNER BROOK, NFLD - While lobster fishermen were left reeling after high winds and heavy seas wreaked havoc on their wooden lobster pots last month, Curtis Crocker discovered a silver lining in the situation.
The Trout River man, who has been fishing for almost 30 years, lost 250 wooden pots during the two storms which struck within about a week of each other and sent the fishery into a tailspin.
During his attempts to recover what was left of his traps, Crocker made a discovery about the five pots made from recycled plastic that he's been using for the past two years.
"During the salvage process, I recovered the five lobster pots which were constructed of plastic lumber and wood," he said.
"Only one of the five pots recovered had a broken lath. Some of these pots were underneath 10 to 15 pots and ropes unharmed - and still had lobsters in them."
Crocker said almost all of the surround pots were beyond repair or badly damaged.
"My father, who has been a fisherman for about 47 years, is astonished at how durable they were and the condition the pots were in after the storm was over," said Crocker.
Jeff Penney owns and operates Enviroplastic Lumber Ltd. in Corner Brook, which manufactures the plastic lobster pots along with a whole range of other products that traditionally call for wooden lumber.
He pointed out that the low-density polyethylene materials - which is compaosed of recycled items such as shopping bags, blue bags and fish trays - are far more durable than wood.
"It's got give to it, but it won't break like wood will," said Penney. "It's nine times denser than wood."
Penney said the word is out amount lobster fishermen, especially after the severe storms of this spring, that going plastic may be a real moneysaver in the long run. He's already sold several traps to fishermen along the coast of western Newfoundland and orders are coming in from beyond the province.
"We've been getting phone calls from Maine, Boston, Nova Scotia - everywhere," he said.
by Gary Kean
The Western Star. |
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