207 Derelict Crab Traps Removed from Tampa Bay during 10-day Blue Crab Fishery Closure
Twenty-two Tampa Bay Watch volunteer boaters removed 207 derelict crab traps from six locations (Belleair Bluffs, Upper Tampa Bay, Boca Ciega Bay, Alafia River, Cockroach Bay, and Demen’s Landing).
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) mandated the temporary closure for the harvest of blue crabs from traps. The local closure from July 10-19 extended to three miles offshore and applied to both commercial and recreational free standing traps (except those attached to docks).
“This event is great because it gets community volunteers involved in helping to preserve and protect the bay by removing debris and keeping marine life from getting caught and killed in abandoned traps,” said Serra Herndon, Bay Watch Habitat Restoration Director. Thousands of derelict crab traps have been accumulating for decades in Tampa Bay. Each year, Tampa Bay Watch performs surveys to identify derelict traps and conducts clean-ups to remove them.
Having conducted 29 crab trap removals since May 2004, Tampa Bay Watch has successfully removed 1,629 traps. Tampa Bay Watch partnered with ReelCycle for this important crab trap removal event. ReelCycle (www.reelcycle.org) is a 501(c)(3) entity that focuses on waste reduction and sound management practices for the fishing industry.
Devin Sanderson, ReelCycle’s Founder and President, said, “Each year, hundreds of tons of derelict gear is discarded in landfills or illegally dumped, which can result in ‘ghost fishing’ or ‘ghost traps’.”
More info is at MyFWC.com/Rules. Contact FWC’s trap-retrieval coord., Kyle Miller, 850.487.0554. For more information on Tampa Bay Watch’s effort contact Serra Herndon at sherndon@tampabaywatch.org or 727.867.8166 ext. 227.
