Derelict Gear Removal - Program Accomplishments
(Updated April 8, 2008)
Derelict Gear Surveys
- 26 derelict gear surveys completed
- 111.5 days of survey effort expended
- 51.1 sq nautical miles of seabed surveyed (less than 10% of the known fishing grounds in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca)
- 4,645 derelict pots and 259 derelict nets encountered
Derelict Net Removals
- 24 derelict net removal projects completed
- 273.75 days of operational effort (travel, diver removal and offload)
- 144.25 days of diver removal effort expended on nets
- 769 nets removed
- 211.6 acres of net removed covering 183 acres of habitat and weighing 120,660 lbs
- derelict nets contained 21 dead marine mammals, 354 dead birds, 985 live and dead fish, and 24,204 live and dead invertebrates
Derelict Pot Removals
- 18 derelict pot removal projects completed
- 53 days of diver removal effort expended
- 1,293 derelict pots removed weighing 31,000 lbs
- data collected on 1,001 crab pots removed showed that 470 (47%) were sport pots, 531 (53%) were commercial pots, 365 (36%) were still actively fishing, 636 (64%) were inactive, 579 (58%) were equipped with legal rot cord, 236 (24%) were not equipped with rot cord and on 186 pots (18%) it could not be determined in rot cord was used or not.
- 1,829 crab and other animals found alive and 395 dead animals recovered
Diver Training
- 6 diver training classes conducted (5 DOD, 1 Tribal)
- 53 divers trained, 45 DOD divers and 8 Tribal divers
Derelict Gear Database
- 4,961 derelict gear targets in the database
- 1,799 have been investigated and removed or disabled
- 3,162 derelict gear targets remain to be investigated including 2,975 possible crab pots, 165 nets and 22 marine debris items
- WDFW automated derelict gear reporting system is receiving 20 to 30 reports per month since its full implementation in October 2005, about a third of which are from commercial fishers
Species Encountered (pdf)