Seven inch oyster! Photo by Harold Weissler
It soon became clear that derelict traps were having a signifi- cant impact on sensitive habitats, and continued to trap both blue crabs and other bycatch species-- black sea bass, spot, striped bass, flounder, diamondback terrapins, eels, even ducks and small mammals, leading to high mortality rates that can continue unabated for years. Animals captured in derelict pots die from starvation, cannibalism, infection and disease. The economic loss alone is incalculable. In 2008 the governors of Virginia and Maryland, alarmed at the decline in peeler and soft crab harvests, requested the US Department of Commerce to study the causes of this com- mercial fishery decline. In response to the federal declaration, the Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC), the state regulatory oversight, developed a Blue Crab Fishery Resource
Disaster Relief Plan. As one part of the plan, then Virginia Governor Tim Kaine approached VIMS and VMRC to develop a plan to employ commercial watermen directly affected by the closure of the winter crab dredge season, to locate and remove derelict pots from Virginia waters. The program began in 2008 with 58 watermen working 48
days, plus one day of training using sophisticated side-imaging sonar equipment and a second day constructing mounts for the sonar transducers and pot recovery devices. Watermen ran a grid pattern, mapping the bottom, spotting potential targets, and noting their GPS coordinates. They returned on another day to retrieve those objects that were then identified, photographed, and recorded. All live bycatch was released. Participants were paid $300 a day plus $50 a week for incidentals. By 2011, there were 70 participants with 24 days on the water. During that time a total of 34,045 items were removed from the Bay. David Stanhope, VIMS Field Research Manager, Center for Coastal Resources Management, shakes his head in amazement at the types of items retrieved during those four years. “In addi- tion to derelict pots, we found lawn chairs, boats, tires, fishing gear, appliances, even baby strollers.” For centuries the Bay has been carelessly treated like a dump and here was proof. If there was a positive spin on all this activity, watermen noted that more than 600 pots had significant oyster growth, evidence that derelict pots, if properly disabled, would make ideal habitat for oysters by elevating them off the bottom and providing shelter from predators. One pot had been in the wa- ter so long an impressive seven inch long oyster had developed. Sadly the program ended March 2012. Locating and remov- ing lost pots is costly and time-consuming and, with a never ending supply of derelict pots, any hopes of removing signifi- cant numbers are unrealistic.
“While it may be helpful to find funding to employ water-
men to remove pots from the Bay’s “hot spots”, Dr. Havens explains, “it will be difficult to find funding to continue the program on a large scale. VIMS will work with watermen to provide long-term loans of side-imaging sonar units so that they might be able to immediately recover their own pots lost during the season.” Kory Angstadt, VIMS Marine Scientist, Center for Coastal
VIMS Marine Debris Map in detail. 56
Resources Management, is excited about the results of testing a biodegradable escape panel made from corn that would gradu-
October/November 2012
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