On Monday, November 17, 2014, staff from the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in a workshop led by The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) where they explored the topic of lost and derelict blue crab pots in the Chesapeake Bay.

Through a one-year grant with MDP and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, SERC is identifying ways to minimize crab pot loss and to understand the extent to which lost crab pots may decrease the number of crabs in the Chesapeake Bay due to “ghost fishing”.

At the workshop, commercial watermen described their experiences with crab pot loss and recovery and how derelict crab pots might affect the blue crab fishery. The participants shared information on ways to better define the extent of the ghost fishing problem through use of small sonar devices on the watermen's boats, techniques to recover lost pots, as well as education materials that could be used to prevent future pot loss.

For more information, contact Jason.Rolfe@noaa.gov.

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