Lobstermen will have six additional months before they are required to start using new gear -- a switchover lobstermen say will be very costly.

The National Marine Fisheries Service yesterday said it would delay implementation of a rule requiring lobstermen to switch from floating ropes to sinking lines from October to April, 2009, according to a press release from Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. The NMFS claims floating ropes endanger the North Atlantic right whale.

The lobster industry in Maine, which includes 5,800 commercial lobstermen, has estimated that the total cost of adopting the new lines will be $20 million, according to the Portland Press Herald.