Knotless Gear: Whale-safe gear. Built to keep fishermen fishing.
Knotless Gear uses semi-rigid composite line to resist knots and tight loops while retaining a visible surface buoy and familiar trap-fishing operations. The Knotless Gear team is developing the line and deck equipment with Maine fishermen.
Protecting marine wildlife and coastal livelihoods
Kelson Marine is developing Knotless Gear to reduce the risk of marine animals becoming entangled in trap-fishing gear while preserving the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities.
The proposed system replaces flexible vertical rope with semi-rigid composite line and specialized deck equipment. Working alongside fishermen, the team aims to establish how well it performs at sea, what it costs to operate, and how much it can reduce entanglement risk. Familiar fishing operations and a visible surface buoy are central to the design.
Why safer retrieval lines matter
Flexible fishing rope can wrap around a marine animal and tighten. Whales, bottlenose dolphins, leatherback turtles, and loggerhead turtles are among the species that could benefit from retrieval lines designed to resist entanglement.
Fishing communities also need gear they can afford and operate efficiently. Maine’s lobster landings alone were worth more than $461 million in 2025, according to preliminary Maine Department of Marine Resources data. The Maine Lobsterman Association estimates that entanglement-related pressures have cost its members 10% - 40% of revenues, making entanglement reduction a $46 million/year problem in Maine alone.
Knotless Gear’s initial design and testing has focused on the New England lobster fishery. With adaptations, the technology could serve other trap fisheries and regions.
North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing gear. Photo: International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The entanglement challenge goes far beyond whales. Leatherback and loggerhead turtles are among the marine animals the project aims to protect. A line that an animal can shed more readily could reduce the risk that an encounter becomes a lasting entanglement.
Leatherback turtle entangled in fishing gear. Photo: Sean Whelan / Mongabay, Hunter, 2022.
A visible connection to the gear
Changes in hauling time, reliability, and equipment costs affect the viability of individual fishing businesses. A 2023 study by Oppenheim, Griffin, and Goode examined the operating costs of on-demand gear in Massachusetts lobster fisheries.
Keeping a buoy at the surface lets fishermen locate their gear and begin hauling directly. It also helps other boats see where gear is set. This approach addresses concerns about the time needed to locate, recover, and reset on-demand gear, and about setting one submerged string of traps over another.
Semi-rigid lines connecting boats to traps
Knotless Gear replaces the flexible vertical end ropes between surface buoys and traps with semi-rigid composite lines. Their bending stiffness makes tight loops and knots virtually impossible. The aim is for an animal encountering the line underwater to shed it more readily, practically eliminating the chance of entanglement.
The material is, strong enough to retrieve offshore traps, stiff enough to resist tangling and flexible enough to handle safely aboard a working boat. The Knotless Gear team has engineered composite materials that meet these requirements while maintaining cost parity with traditional pot warp. This technology is covered by a patent allowed 8/19/26, final issuance pending.
Custom deck equipment for semi-rigid line
The Knotless Gear system combines semi-rigid retrieval lines, custom end fittings, a larger-diameter powered hauler.
The larger drum accommodates the line’s bending radius. Open access allows the crew to handle and band the coils. Specialized end fittings connect the composite line to the fishing gear in place of knots.
The Knotless Gear hauler handles the semi-rigid vertical end lines. The boat’s traditional pot hauler continues to handle the textile trawl lines joining traps on the seafloor. This division keeps much of the familiar fishing sequence intact while adapting the equipment to a stiffer material.
The Knotless Gear system, showing the yellow retrieval line, powered drum, stored coils. Concept rendering by Kelson Marine.
Testing aboard working fishing boats
The first field trials put prototype line and handling equipment aboard a working boat. Fishermen and Knotless Gear engineers evaluated handling and operability at sea. Those trials are guiding improvements to the next prototypes.
Early field trial with prototype equipment. The system remains under development.
Development with Maine fishermen
Fishermen help guide decisions about handling, vessel layout, crew safety, and the daily work of hauling and resetting traps. Their experience is essential to developing gear that boats can adopt and use economically.
“This will have people feeling hopeful.”
Colleen F., lobster fisher
Materials and prototypes
Engineering analysis and initial prototypes have established the starting point for the line and handling equipment. The first field tests are complete, and their findings are shaping the next design.
Rigorous testing alongside fishermen
The next phase will refine the powered drum, fairlead, custom end fittings, and line construction. Repeated trials will assess safe handling, reliability, hauling and resetting time, and costs under fishing conditions. Further evaluation is needed to establish how effectively the system reduces entanglement risk.
Preparing for wider use
The long-term goal is an affordable commercial system that reduces pressure on threatened marine wildlife and preserves the efficiency of trap fishing. Experience from New England lobster vessels will inform adaptations for other fisheries and regions.
Ocean engineering and the working waterfront
Knotless Gear draws on Kelson Marine’s experience in ocean engineering, vessel systems, composites, and field testing in Portland, Maine.
Tobias Dewhurst, PhD, PE
Ocean engineering and business development.
Zach Moscicki, PhD
Fisheries engineering and field testing.
Caitlin Roberts
Business planning and operations.
Douglas Slocum, PE
Naval architecture, manufacturing, and composites.
Maine fishermen
Practical experience that guides design, vessel integration, and trials.
Take part in Knotless Gear
We welcome conversations with fishermen interested in trials, fabricators and composite manufacturers, and organizations interested in supporting the next stage of development.
Contact [email protected] or call 207-747-2090.
Kelson Marine, dba Knotless Gear · Portland, Maine
