In 2003, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission was awarded funding by the NOAA Restoration Center’s Community-based Restoration Program to help Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas with removing derelict crab traps from their coastal waters. The primary goal of the community-based derelict trap program is to remove lost and abandoned traps from the water and educate the public on how to prevent unintentional losses of traps in the future. Thousands of crab traps are lost or abandoned each year in the Gulf of Mexico. Derelict traps result from numerous sources:  weather or hydrological factors (i.e., tides, currents, or storm surges); senescence of buoys, lines, or knots; failure to assemble and maintain buoys and buoy lines properly; unintentional cutting of buoy lines by vessel propellers; and intentional cutting of buoy lines by vandals. Even after fishermen lose or abandon traps, these traps continue to catch fish, crustaceans, turtles, and other organisms. Studies have shown that each derelict trap catches an average of 26 blue crabs per year until the trap deteriorates. Other studies have shown that abandoned traps are a major threat to diamondback terrapins, a brackish water species. This species is currently being considered for possible Species of Concern status under guidelines of the Endangered Species Act. 

Results

Alabama – A shallow-water derelict trap removal day took place on Saturday, March 13, 2004 sponsored by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Marine Resources Division and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. This was a shallow-water, volunteer based program to remove all derelict crab traps from within 500 yards of Alabama’s shoreline. This was Alabama’s third year to remove derelict traps and their efforts appear to be working.  During the 2004 removal, 180 volunteers removed 375 traps. The total was down from 1,075 traps removed during 2003 with the same effort level. For more information on the Alabama Derelict Crab Trap Recovery Program visit their web site.

Mississippi – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) and the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) conducted a joint trap removal from March 14 through April 3, 2004.  A shallow water closure required that all crab traps be moved outside a half-mile of the shoreline for one week in each of the three coastal counties.  On March 20, twenty-three volunteers removed 205 traps in Hancock County mainly around the Bayou Caddy area.  Another removal effort was held the next weekend, March 27, in Harrison and parts of Jackson counties.  Eighteen volunteers in six vessels collected a total of 80 derelict traps from Biloxi Bay, Fort Bayou, Davis Bayou and the Biloxi Channel during the second of three volunteer cleanup days.  During the final removal day, 13 volunteers removed 571 traps from the eastern portion of Jackson County.  Taking advantage of lower tides during the fall of 2003, the MDMR and GCRL removed 388 derelict crab traps from around the state.  During the first volunteer based removal in 2003, volunteers removed a total of 1,429 abandoned crab traps from Mississippi’s waters.  Mississippi has also scheduled a 2004 deep-water area closure that would require that crab traps be within a half-mile of the shoreline for the first week of the shrimping season that will open in June at a date to be determined.  This effort would target traps in deeper waters and allow shrimpers to dispose of traps caught in their nets. For more information on the Mississippi Derelict Crab Trap Program visit their web site.

Louisiana – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries held its first derelict trap removal from February 28 through March 14, 2004 in the upper Terrebonne Bay estuary.  The upper Terrebonne Bay area was closed to all crabbing during removal efforts.  Volunteer removal efforts were held on February 28, and March 6.  During the removal effort, 215 volunteers removed 6,676 derelict traps with the majority of the traps coming from the Pointe Aux Chenes area.  Louisiana will also hold a deep-water removal for nine or fourteen days, around the opening of the 2004 inshore shrimp season in western Vermilion Bay. For more information on the Louisiana Derelict Crab Trap Removal Program visit their web site. 

Texas – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department held its third derelict trap removal during a statewide closed crabbing season from February 20 to 29, 2004. All crab traps were required to be removed from the water during the closed season. Three hundred eleven volunteers removed 3,571 traps during the closed season.  The majority of the traps came from San Antonio and Galveston Bay.  The 2004 total was down from 2003 efforts that removed 3,838.  During the first Texas derelict trap removal in 2002, volunteers removed 8,070 traps.  

Overall – Over 750 volunteers representing a multitude of organizations came together in early 2004 to remove 11,478 derelict traps from the coastal waters of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The success of this project was based on innovative partnerships among governmental, environmental, educational, industrial, and recreational and commercial fishing groups. Groups, who in the past were often antagonistic or competing with one another, put aside differences and worked together to achieve a common goal of protecting resources and habitat by removing derelict traps. The 2004 efforts were a major step towards removing the thousands of derelict traps that litter the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and continue to catch and kill crabs, fish, and other species.

Photos from the Derelict Trap Removals

Photos from the February 21, 2004 Texas Derelict Trap Clean Up
Photos from the February 28, 2004 Louisiana Derelict Trap Clean Up
Photos from the March 13, 2004 Alabama Derelict Trap Clean Up
Photos from the March 20, 2004 Mississippi Derelict Trap Clean Up
Photos from the March 27, 2004 Mississippi Derelict Trap Clean Up
Photos from the April 3, 2004 Mississippi Derelict Trap Clean Up

Thanks

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and all of the state agencies participating in the 2004 derelict trap removal efforts would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers that donated their time in helping make this program a success. Without the volunteers, this program would not have been successful. Everyone would also like to thank the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program for helping fund removal efforts.

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Last modified: January 03, 2007