Program searches for derelict crab pots, solutions

The nonprofit is in the second year of a program to find and remove derelict crab pots.

Over 12,000 crab pots are lost in the state’s section of the Salish Sea each year, killing an estimated 179,000 harvestable Dungeness crabs. The lost crab pots can also impact habitat such as eelgrass beds.

Last year, the foundation surveyed and removed derelict pots in an area from North Fidalgo Bay to Hat Island, said Jason Morgan, the foundation’s marine program manager.

While the majority of derelict crab pots in Puget Sound are left by recreational crabbers, this area has a higher proportion than other areas of lost commercial pots, which are larger.

Morgan said the team is working on outreach and education, as well as figuring out the causes of the crab pot losses. While they have no definitive answers, he said, heavy commercial traffic in the area could contribute to the problem.

Some ways to prevent crab pot loss are avoiding marine traffic and ferry lanes, using a weighted line, and checking tides and currents.

Now, the project team will go back to the same area to get a sense of how many crab pots have piled up since last year.

“(That will) create a little study area. That’ll give us an idea of the total annual loss rate, and annual loss rate for both commercial and recreational pots,” Morgan said.

The project team will start surveying the area this month, then remove pots this summer.