The NOAA Marine Debris Program is funding four new research projects on innovative gear technology to reduce the loss of fishing gear, such as crab traps and pots, at sea and reduce the impacts of lost gear through the program's Fishing for Energy partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

This year's projects range from testing biodegradable trap panels and study whether terrapin turtles avoid crab pots based on the color of the entrance funnel at the College of William and Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science to determining the escape rates of Dungeness crab from five different crab pot designs representing the breadth of designs used in Puget Sound at the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation.

An entire list of funded projects can be found here: Fishing for Energy Supports New Derelict Gear Innovation Projects.

For more information, contact Alison.Hammer@noaa.gov.

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