Lobstermen's trapyards are a common sight on Isle au Haut; this one is at Head Harbor. I spent quite a few hours in this trapyard last spring as I helped prepare these traps for another season of fishing.

Traps are generally used in pairs, a main trap and a trailer. Each trap has two escape vents (called ghost panels) that allow undersized lobsters to exit the trap easily; one is held shut with stainless steel hog rings, the other with non-ferrous metal hog rings which biodegrade after a few months should the trap be lost on the ocean bottom. Once the hog rings rust away, the vent opens freely leaving a sizeable escape hatch through which even very large lobsters may liberate themselves. These biodegradeable hog rings are replaced before the start of each season.

New trap tags are issued (at $0.30 apiece as of this writing) to each lobsterman at the start of each season; a current trap tag bearing the fisherman's license number is attached to the bridge of each trap.

The large door on top of the trap through which lobsters are removed when caught is held fast by a length of shock cord which must be checked for wear and replaced if necessary. The bait lines which are used to secure the baitbag (on traps so equipped; many island lobsterman are now using bait spikes which replace bait lines and require little or no maintenance) are checked for fraying at the free end; if fraying is excessive, it can be difficult to thread the line through the bait needle so the frayed end is burned off with a cigarette lighter.

Each trap is also equipped with two or three trap runners affixed to the bottom. These are simply narrow strips of wood, about 3/4 inch thick, whose purpose is to keep the bottom of the trap slightly elevated from whatever it is resting on, preventing undue damage to the lobsters' claws. The trap runners are inspected for damage and repaired or replaced if necessary.

Other items to be checked but which don't normally require seasonal maintenance are the heads (the funnel shaped nets through which the lobsters enter the traps and move from the kitchen to the parlor), funny eyes (large diameter metal rings on the narrow end of the heads), and the bridles (a short length of stout rope attached to one end of the trap, to which the potwarp is tied).