The Gear
Inshore Lift
The Inshore Lift is designed for the Northeast commercial lobster fishery, and is simply attached to the top of a trap. This leaves the trap still fishable, while removing the vertical rope and buoy. It can be fished in singles or trawl configurations.
To reset the Lift, there's a docking station, which is used to refill the internal air tank, as well as deflate the buoy. This can all be done in under 1 minute of touch time (automated buoy deflation takes ~5 minutes).
Offshore Lift
The Offshore Lift is essentially a super-sized Inshore Lift. It can lift 300lbs and can work in depths up to 600ft (100 ftm). This allow it to be used in offshore fishing grounds in Maine, as well as in the lobster and fish trap fisheries in Australia.
For the Maine fishery, the Offshore Lift is housed in a standard commercial lobster trap sled, which both protects the Lift and makes them easy to stack with the rest of the traps on deck.