Excerpts
Warren and Karen Unkert know there are loads of loose crab traps, or “ghost pots,” rusting on the bottom of South Jersey’s bays.
The Unkerts, of Mullica Township,
have been crabbing for almost a quarter-century. And they’ve lost
plenty of their own-make traps in their career, about 40 a year, Warren
estimates.
They mainly get lost because “a
boat will run into the (line) and cut the buoy” that marks the trap for
its owner, says Steve Evert, the manager of Stockton University’s Marine
Field Station in Port Republic.
So these veteran crabbers are happy to be part of a “marine debris removal” crew organized by Stockton, with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
So these veteran crabbers are happy to be part of a “marine debris removal” crew organized by Stockton, with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The university recruited crabbers
to clean the bottom of the Mullica River and Great Bay from 2012 to
2014. They removed almost 8 tons of ghost pots from the water, Stockton
officials say, more than 1,150 traps. Researchers estimate their mapping
found an average of 250 lost traps per square mile of bay bottom.
The crabbers involved have lots of reasons to like this program. They get paid with NOAA funding to retrieve the ghost pots. The Unkerts made their own system, with four small grappling hooks. The whole setup cost them about $40 and is small enough to carry in a 5-gallon bucket.
The crabbers involved have lots of reasons to like this program. They get paid with NOAA funding to retrieve the ghost pots. The Unkerts made their own system, with four small grappling hooks. The whole setup cost them about $40 and is small enough to carry in a 5-gallon bucket.
“We’re bridging that gap between the commercial fishing industry and academia, the science side of things,” Evert says.
Sullivan, the professor, adds
that historically, those groups “typically work apart.” He sees the
cooperation helping both sides — plus one more key beneficiary.
“They recover lost gear that’s
valuable. Plus it’s a win for the ecosystem, because it’s helping any
(crabs or other species) that would end up in the traps,” he says. “And
it benefits the scientists, because we’re collecting accurate data. ...
Forming those ties will make it easier to do projects together in the
future.”
(Commercial crabbers interested in learning more can email Steven.Evert@stockton.edu or call 609-652-4486.)
Contact: 609-272-7237
MDeangelis@pressofac.com
Entire article & video at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/ghost-pot-busters-seek-to-clear-bays-of-old-crab/article_f1ed773e-e804-11e5-a85d-0f215294ed43.html
Press Editorial
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-reduce-lost-traps-to-prevent-suffering-increase-harvest/article_f76a353b-18d9-56fc-9bc2-3e437d7f329e.html
Entire article & video at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/ghost-pot-busters-seek-to-clear-bays-of-old-crab/article_f1ed773e-e804-11e5-a85d-0f215294ed43.html
Press Editorial
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-reduce-lost-traps-to-prevent-suffering-increase-harvest/article_f76a353b-18d9-56fc-9bc2-3e437d7f329e.html
No comments:
Post a Comment