USA - NOAA Fisheries Service Announces a Name Change of Haddock Rope Trawl to Ruhle Trawl
By daybreak
Published: September 16, 2008
Updated: September 16, 2008

NOAA Fisheries Service announced a name change for fishing gear recently approved for use in the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock Special Access Program and the Regular B-Day at Sea Program.

As of September 9, 2008, the "Haddock Rope Trawl" is to be known as the "Ruhle Trawl." Captain Phil Ruhle, Sr., for whom this gear is named, was a significant contributor in the gear’s development. The announcment also authorized the use of the Ruhle Trawl by Northeast multispecies vessels fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Management Area starting on September 15, 2008.

In 2007, Captain Ruhle was recognized along with David Beutel and Laura Scrobe from the University of Rhode Island, and fellow fishermen James O’Grady and Phil Ruhle, Jr., as the grand prize winners of the 2007 World Wildlife Fund’s International Smart Gear Competition. The award credited this team for designing the new trawl, developed under the copyrighted name “The Eliminator,” which proved highly effective at reducing bycatch.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also presented Captain Ruhle with its Environmental Hero Award in 2003 for his time and effort while participating in comparative trawl testing with the R/V ALBATROSS IV.

On July 23, 2008, Captain Ruhle perished when his fishing vessel, the F/V SEA BREEZE, capsized and sank off New Jersey. Renaming the new gear the Ruhle Trawl is to honor Captain Ruhle as a significant contributor to the development of this gear and an innovator in the fishing industry. For a detailed description of the new gear, please review the July 14, 2008, Small Entity Compliance Guide.

Details are available on the Northeast Regional Office website at www.nero.noaa.gov.