U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks, according to new University of Maine research. A study led by Qiujie "Angie" Zheng, associate professor of business analytics in the University of Maine's Maine Business School, found that consumers are willing to pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll made with lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology when presented with information on animal welfare.