{"id":8604,"date":"2017-07-06T13:13:08","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T17:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=8604"},"modified":"2024-08-20T14:33:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:33:18","slug":"on-the-water-crab-pots-collected-from-coastal-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/on-the-water-crab-pots-collected-from-coastal-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"ON THE WATER: Crab Pots Collected from Coastal Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
More than 4,300 lost or abandoned crab pots were removed from 1.2 million acres of state waters earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The North Carolina General Assembly<\/a> selected North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a> to administer the Crab Pot Removal Pilot Program. Sea Grant contracted with the N.C. Coastal Federation<\/a>, which worked with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and its Marine Patrol<\/a>, along with teams of commercial fishermen, for the project during the annual winter \u201cno-potting\u201d period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cResults show that a full-scale, statewide program is operationally achievable, as well as of value in improving the condition of coastal fisheries and habitat,\u201d the federation explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program focused on lost gear, sometimes called ghost pots, and on whether they continue to catch crabs and other species. Often missing buoy markers, submerged pots also can become navigational hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the 1990s, the Marine Patrol has led the removal program. The federation coordinated demonstration projects from 2014 to 2016 in the northern coastal region, enlisting watermen to help the patrol gather pots. Those demonstration efforts received funding from Sea Grant and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s marine debris program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the statewide efforts by the federation and watermen, several factors are cited as contributing to the 2017 tally, the greatest since 2004 for the combined three coastal regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, flooding and high winds came with spring storms, as well as in the autumn with Tropical Storm Hermine and Hurricane Matthew. Some pots were identified as having traveled more than 10 miles from their likely original setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n