A lobster trap for the 21st century

Everyone knows the cliché about building a better mousetrap. Scott Dauphinee’s ambition is not just to build a better lobster trap, but the Mercedes Benz of lobster traps.

Formerly employed in the oil sector, Dauphinee has worked in China, and is now managing director of The Lobster Trap Company in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. His mission is to “build a lobster trap for the 21st century.”

“There are a lot of features making ours a Mercedes trap,” he told SeafoodSource in a recent interview. “It’s going to last longer than a traditional trap – I say traditional trap as opposed to pointing out a trap made from a specific material – and it’s lighter and stronger. It meets and exceeds all the regulations on both sides of the border.”

Dauphinee said he designed his new trap so that if it gets damaged, it can be repaired as opposed to discarded. 

“An example I use is if you are in a car accident and dented your fender, you wouldn’t throw your car away, you replace the fender and continue using the car,” he said. “[And] one of the biggest things we’re excited about is the fact it’s going to be recyclable. Once a trap has lived its lifespan and no longer able to be used, then we, the manufacturer, will take that trap back.”

In addition, the trap has been designed to perform better in the water.

“We integrated the weights in the bottom of the trap and that helps with a lower center of gravity, so when the trap is deployed, it sinks faster, stays on the bottom better, meaning less resistance with the water flow, and when the gear is being hauled it’s less strain on the haulers. We’ve also integrated a stackable feature,” which lets the traps lock in place when being transported, Dauphinee said.

At the moment, Dauphinee company trap is limited to the prototype stage, with more tweaking and testing planned before it goes to the expense of casting dies and going into production. He is adamant that, for quality issues, production will be done in Canada – ideally in Nova Scotia, but at least in the country. 

What causes some raised eyebrows is that Dauphinee’s trap is plastic. People wonder about the optics and practically of putting plastic into the ocean and question its brittleness and durability in cold ocean water. 

“You’re exactly right. There are a couple of things about plastic that have certainly opened my eyes,” Dauphinee said in response to a query about his trap’s material. “There are thousands of different types of plastic. Within the main seven categories are so many different things that they can do with plastic now. The technology is overwhelming.”

Dauphinee said that while most plastic is petroleum-based, in his traps, “elements like corn or vegetable oil are substituted for petroleum to make the plastic environmentally friendly.”

Dauphinee has no set price yet on his traps, as there’s more testing to be done. Whatever the price point, his plan is for the trap to pay for itself with a longer life-span, the creation of easier working conditions, and a potential credit on new traps earned through the recycled product. 

As to its effectiveness at actually trapping lobsters, Dauphinee said initial tests have been positive but that the traps will soon be given to fishermen for real-world testing.

“We have tested [the working prototype] ourselves successfully with a DFO experimental and scientific license. Our next step is to build more prototypes and put them in the hands of the fishermen to get their collective feedback,” he said. “If they want a change, then we’ll re-engineer it before going to the moulding process.”

The Lobster Trap Company’s target is to start taking orders in mid-2018. So far Dauphinee has only shared photos with the Coldwater Lobster Association (CLA) based in Region Five in Southwest Nova Scotia and the Lobster Council of Canada (LCC). 

The LCC’s executive director Geoff Irvine has no opinion yet on this new trap. 

“Will they fish well?  Are they more expensive than wire [or] wood traps?  Is there an issue with putting more plastic in the ocean that could be lost? Fishermen are superstitious and will change trap wire color from season to season if they think it helps their catches, so who knows if they will embrace a new trap,” Irvine told SeafoodSource.

Thomas Amirault, vice president of the CLA and a lobster fisherman for the past 30 years, said he’s both skeptical and hopeful the new traps are better than what’s used today.

“I’ve only seen pictures, so it’s hard for me to make too an in-depth judgment, but from what I’ve seen they look like they could be a workable thing. I think it’s really early right now to try to figure them out. Fishermen [are] always leery about new things, but if we never changed, we’d still have sails and cotton gloves,” Amirault said. “Again, it’s going to depend on do they catch lobsters.”

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