"There's no way we're even going to talk about them landing lobsters on draggers," said David Cousens president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA).  "I can guarantee you that every lobsterman in Maine is against this."

As for the argument that Massachusetts and other neighboring states allow the practice, Cousens said, "Just because the other states are wrong, why should we join the club?  We're fighting to get to zero everywhere and we're not backing up.  No other country in the world allows this."  More about other states' bycatch lobster landings

Cousens said the "three cornerstones of lobster management in Maine" are: no dragging for lobsters, v-notch protection for egg-bearing females, and the maximum size restriction, which lobstermen say protects their broodstock.

"You start targeting lobsters by draggers and you won't have a healthy lobster fishery anymore," he said.  "if you open that door, it becomes a resource issue.  A lot more people would do it."

Mike Dassatt of the Downeast Lobstermen's Association said his group held the same position. "We are adamantly against the dragging of lobsters and always have been," he said.  This is not a conservation measure.  What we've been conserving for 45 years will go right out the window with this."

Dassatt further worried about highgrading.  "They're going to be cycling through 500 lobsters all the time until they get the 500 biggest ones," he said.  About highgrading

Dassatt pointed out that lobstermen for years had been forced to reduce their effort on lobsters through trap reductions and other measures.  "They want us to cut back and cut back, and now they want to let more people take lobsters under a different practice?  This just should not be done," he said.  More about fishing effort