Tag Archives: Ghost traps
The ghost trap problem in Biscayne Bay
Beneath the glittering surface of Biscayne Bay, a menace lurks, wiping out fragile sea grass habitat, catching and killing as brutally, efficiently and indiscriminately as any monster from the deep: ghost traps. What goes inside the abandoned or lost traps stays inside — crabs left to cannibalize each other, baby lobster and fish too disoriented to escape. Heavy-grade plastic crab traps can even outlive their owners. “Just because someone’s not actually fishing a trap, it doesn’t mean the trap isn’t fishing,” said John Ricisak, a Miami-Dade County environmental resources project supervisor who heads county removal efforts. Ghost traps are so ubiquitous it’s hard to know how many exist. A 2013 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated more than 1.1 million ghost and derelict traps litter the Florida Keys. Read the rest here 19:29
Who ya gonna call? Digby DFO cleans up ghost traps from Bay of Fundy
“Our mandate is enforcement and conservation,” said Digby Fisheries officer Corey Webster. “Just like our compliance blitz in St. Mary’s Bay this summer, this is an important job just to make sure everything is cleaned up. And it’s also important for us to be out on the water, just to see what is happening out there.” Fishermen harvest lobster from weighted traps that sit on bottom. They tie a rope to the trap and a buoy keeps that rope floating at the surface to show them where their traps are. Other fishermen, who may see these errant traps, are not allowed however to haul another fisherman’s traps. Read the rest here 15:22
Ghost traps major problem in the Keys – Bill Kelly says there would be a lot of fishermen out of business
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) fisheries biologist Tom Matthews and other scientists found that 85,000 spiny lobster ghost traps which have lost their buoys, and more than 1 million pieces of traps and fishing gear junk,, Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, contends the trap loss estimates are too high. Read more here keysnews.com 06:58
