The Alabama approach was similar to the Adopt-a-Highway programs in many states. Volunteer groups such as CCA Alabama, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and canoe and kayak associations adopted sections of the local waters in which they were responsible for removing the traps.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources began removing traps in 1998 on a limited basis with agency personnel, and by 2002 had removed 2,400 traps. They held their first large-scale, volunteer trap removal effort this past January and removed 1,400 derelict traps during a two-week closed period. Mississippi is also looking into the possibility of deepwater removal efforts by using side scanning sonar to locate traps, then using a device called a gorilla trawl--which is used to clean the bottom around oil rig platforms after demolition--to scrape the traps off the bottom.
Louisiana and Florida are the big dogs along the Gulf coast, accounting for almost 90 percent of the crabbers working in the Gulf. Neither state has yet initiated a blue crab trap removal program, but both have taken the first steps. "At this point," said Vince Guillory, biologist supervisor with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, "the commission doesn’t have the legal authority for a trap removal program. There is, however, a bill introduced in the legislature this year to establish a derelict trap program that would create the authority to close an area for up to 16 days to get the traps out."
According to Guillory, when you consider the wide expanses of marshes and estuaries along the Louisiana coastline, it’s just too extensive for a statewide closure. Once the legislation is in place, "We’re looking to go about it estuary by estuary, or even a portion of an estuary at a time."
Florida accounts for about 37 percent of the crabbers in the Gulf, and although the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) flirted briefly with the idea of rolling closures to allow a Texas-like program in parts of the state, for the time being they are working with the legislature on a definition for derelict traps and trap debris. Once that’s achieved, the FWC will be able to permit the numerous local and statewide coastal and river cleanup efforts to pick up derelict traps and trap debris. "Because of the requirement for biodegradable panels it’s less of a problem than it used to be," said Bob Palmer, with the FWC’s Division of Marine Fisheries, adding that the state is not currently leaning toward closures, in part because of the cost of such a program and the huge amount of shoreline that Florida has to deal with.
On the Atlantic Coast, with the exception of North Carolina, no states are developing any type of significant trap removal programs, although in states with closed seasons (Virginia, Maryland and Delaware) agency personnel--mostly on-the-water law enforcement officers--remove traps that remain in the water when the season is closed.
North Carolina, which, according to 2002 figures, harvests more blue crabs by weight than any Atlantic coast state, estimates that there are about 1.3 million traps (called pots along much of the East Coast) being used in their coastal waters. A 1992 study found that as much as 14 percent of traps were lost in some water bodies each year. In addition to these recurring losses, hurricanes in 1998 and 1999 caused the loss of an estimated 250,000 traps. Since 1995, crabbers in North Carolina have been required to remove their traps from the water for a two-week cleanup period (Jan. 24 to Feb. 7). During that time the state’s marine patrol pulls traps that are left in the water. This year they removed 4,121 abandoned crab pots and 953 ghost crab pots.
North Carolina does not currently require biodegradable panels, but, that option, along with shorter attendance periods and additional cleanup weeks are being looked at as part of a new blue crab management plan. One noticeable difference in North Carolina compared to most other states is that any citizen can legally pick up a ghost trap that has no buoy or identification.
Recycling programs where dumpsters were provided for crabbers to dispose of traps and other debris rather than abandoning it the water were tried in both South Carolina and Georgia in the mid-1990s but have since been discontinued.
Guidelines for Removal
The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Derelict Trap Removal Panel is currently developing derelict trap removal program guidelines, which are currently out for public comment. The guidelines are "designed to be a sort of play book for how other states can put a program together like the ones in the Gulf states," said Steve Vanderkooy, the GSMFCs interjurisdictional fisheries program coordinator. The GSMFC is also seeking funding assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Habitat Restoration Program to help Gulf States that are faced with funding shortfalls initiate trap removal programs.
"The main message that the commission wants to get across," said Vanderkooy, "is this is everybody’s issue and while the commercial fishermen own the traps, they are not the ones typically responsible for the loss of the traps. They are on board equally in the existing programs and are as concerned about the problem as everyone else and they want to help."
Traps per state
Florida -- 2,381 crabbers using an average of 152 traps each (361,912 traps)
Alabama - 174 crabbers using 150 traps each (26,100 traps)
Mississippi - 256 crabbers but no estimate of number of traps
Louisiana – 3,347 crabbers using 250 to 270 traps each (836,750 to 903,690 traps)
Texas - 259 crabbers using 200 traps each (51,800)
