Some lobsters have developed hairballs after eating chunks of cowhide used by fishermen in their traps – an unsavory discovery that has prompted legislators to promote new regulations on alternative bait.

Legislation approved Monday by the Marine Resources Committee also would allow the state to investigate reports of slaughterhouse waste being sold as bait.

Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Hancock, co-chair of the committee, proposed the alternative bait legislation, which must be approved by the full Legislature.

“This is a sensitive topic because of the potential effect it might have to the market,” Damon said. He estimated that catching and selling lobsters in Maine is a $750 million business.

Under Damon’s proposal, it would be unlawful to use wild or domestic animal renderings or offal as bait to fish for lobsters or crabs, unless the bait was animal hide from which the hair has been removed.

David Etnier, deputy commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, said reports of hair in the lobster meat surfaced about a year and a half ago and raised concerns, particularly in the Japanese market. He said his department’s own survey showed that less than 5 percent of the traps in Maine waters, and probably closer to 3 percent, were using cowhide at any given time during the year.

While the animal hide did not appear to pose a health threat, Etnier said his department was concerned about the slaughterhouse waste because of reports that fishermen had gotten blood poisoning after handling the bait.

The outright prohibition on hairy hides and offal would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2006, unless the bill is passed as an emergency measure with the required two-thirds vote. Then the Department of Marine Resources could use rulemaking before that date to ban bait it deemed a threat to public health. Such rulemaking would prompt a public hearing well before the ban went into effect – a move pushed by committee member, Rep. Jeff Kaelin, R-Winterport. Kaelin told Damon he agreed with the intent of his proposal, but wanted to give fishermen and others a chance to weigh in.

“I want to go to the same place,” he said, but “I had hoped we could have a more deliberative public process.”

The problem with alternative bait was discussed at a public hearing last week, attended by lobstermen from up and down the coast. Most spoke in favor of regulating the bait, but not banning cowhide outright, because it is cheaper than herring or other fish used as bait and lasts longer in the traps – an important consideration in the colder months when fishermen can’t get out to bait their traps as often.

Getting rid of the hair, however, seemed a good idea to most.

“If you’re opening up the lobster and you get this hairball, that would not go over well, said Bill Anderson of Trescott.

Phil Dziezyk of Swans Island questioned what chemicals were used to remove the hair and whether they would harm the species. “Two to three years down the road, are the females going to stop dropping their eggs?” he asked.

The slaughterhouse waste raised concerns not only about the lobster, but the fishermen using the bait.

“It’s some pretty bad stuff,” said John Carter of Hulls Cove, representing Zone B in the Bar Harbor and Ellsworth area. He described it has having hide from moose, deer and cows, feces, blood and hair in it. He also said there have been reports of fishermen getting blood poisoning as a result of sticking their hands in the bait bucket – reports the state Department of Marine Resources also have heard.

Clive Farrin of Boothbay Harbor, representing the Zone E Council, said he heard the bait described as “whatever comes off the slaughterhouse floor.”

He said it was going for $20 a pail as compared to $100 to $120 a pail for good artificial bait. “People used to pay to get it hauled away,” he said, and now it’s being sold to fishermen.

Asked by one committee member why some would buy it, he said: “It’s cheap. Believe it or not there are guys in this business who are looking for a bargain.”

Damon said the issue of regulating alternative bait is overdue.

“For over two years now there have been concerns coming to me from the industry” about alternative bait, Damon said. The cowhide is being used because it is durable and “the lobsters were attracted to it. But is it detrimental to the stock?”

For an industry that’s worth $750 million to Maine, Damon said, bait is being used “that’s neither been tested or being monitored.”