Operation Underway In Sparrows Point To Remove Abandoned Crab Pots From Chesapeake Bay
SPARROWS POINT, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore area watermen are now on a mission to remove abandoned crab pots that are harming crabs, other marine life and their livelihoods.
13 crews of watermen have been hired by the nonprofit group Oyster Recovery Partnership for a project to remove the crab pots.
"Removing the gear under this program supports Baltimore County with a positive and localized to this area by removing unmanaged gear that would otherwise compete with active fishing gear," said Ward Slacum, the executive director for Oyster Recovery Partnership.
The Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability provided a $125,000 grant to the nonprofit group to manage the collaborative project.
The goal is to remove the pots from the bottom of the bay throughout the first two weeks of March.
"We're trying to pull out between 50 and 70 percent of the 3,000 or so pots we've identified over 2000 acres out there in the bay," said County Executive Johnny Olszewski.
The pots were identified at the beginning of the year using side-scan sonar technology that can map out what is at the bottom of the bay.
The crab pots are typically lost during storms or cut loose by boat propellers.
"Nobody wants to lose gear. It ends up happening," said Matthew Wiley, a waterman.
An estimated 3.3 million crabs are killed annually in the Chesapeake Bay by the abandoned crab pots according to a 2016 study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The recovered pots will be recycled or disposed of by the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation.
Crews will also document the condition of each pot they find and report whether they contained crabs, fish or other items.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership will complete an analysis of the project and report the results to the county this summer.