Experimantal Plastic Hauling Plates, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
This is a picture of one half of a set of new experimental plastic hauling plates. They come from a government grant that paid to develop them.
The thinking behind the new experimental plastic hauling plates is that they will have less friction on the rope to make the rope last longer. The rope that the lobstermen use is a by-product of oil and it’s cost has gone way up with everything else. By using the new plates they hope they will get a longer life out of the rope and reduce costs.
Right now only a couple of these have been distributed to my lobstermen to see if there are any design flaws. They potentially could be too slippery and not haul the gear properly. They might have too much grip, they might be too flexible.
What I know is that lobstermen are creatures of habit and it will have to work very similarly to what they currently use or the idea will be an exercise in futility, but if they do work and can save them money it would be worthwhile.
Good Morning Gloucester 