Volunteers clean up crab pots
REEDSPORT — A handful of boats in Oregon’s crabbing fleet returned to sea last week for one last hurrah.
Their quarries were the derelict pots and buoys left behind this year by commercial crab boats.
During a volunteer effort held nearly seven weeks past the close of the Dungeness season, fishermen focused their attention on crabbing gear trapped near shorelines or otherwise forgotten at sea during the Dec. 1 to Aug. 14 season.
Gear sometimes is grounded at beaches or the buoys marking submerged crab pots that are dragged under by ocean currents, said Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission Executive Director Nick Furman. That means that some gear is impossible to detect or recover, he said.
According to a press release from the commission, regulations have been put in place to eliminate what’s known as “ghost fishing” in lost pots, but they still cause headaches for fishermen when they snag in gear and nets. And more, they contribute to the marine debris problem.
But “we put the gear in the ocean and it’s our responsibility to bring it back in,” Furman said.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, backed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the commission, also began a cleanup project this month that will last through mid-November.
NOAA paid $600,000 — and other groups paid $200,000 — to charter about 10 vessels along the coast to seek out abandoned crab gear.
The effort offered only a fuel stipend to those willing to donate their time, with the Oregon Department of State Lands granting the commission $5,000 to use toward fuel.
“We’re doing the right thing by going out and keeping the ocean clean,” Furman said. “There is a certain percentage of fisherman who buy into that.”
By midweek, 10 vessels had volunteered, hauling in a few pots each.
One boat north of Reedsport claimed nine pots. The F/V Cascade, a boat out of Winchester Bay captained by Mike Wahl, caught six.
Furman said the commission could pay for some crew time or additional fuel stipends at future cleanup events with the hope of getting more volunteers. The commission also may work out a finder’s fee with the state, possibly charging owners $50 each for reclaimed pots. A bargain, he said, considering new pots cost $150-$200 each.
Gear this year was returned to owners, if owners could be identified by tags other markings on pots and buoys. The alternative, Furman said, is to recycle it.
The commission may organize a single cleanup day next year, attempting a yearly event more like SOLV’s beach cleanups, Furman said.
“Ten, 15, 25 years down the road we could be looking at this and saying, ‘It’s done a lot to solve an industry problem,’” he said.
