Ghost Pots - We don't need to pay anymore...

[shoreboy6]

How can you say commercial crabbing is "unsustainable nonsense" or "mismanaged"? Since the ban/restriction of harvesting females, I would say the crab population has exploded. There have definately been a lot more Rec crabbers in my area over the past 5 years and I would also have to say there are also a lot more people invovled in "part-time comm trotlining" since the female implementation. As for crabs being in short supply in the fall I want to see proof of that. Many buyers I know limit what they buy due to increased supply over demand after labor day.........

[Matt]

LOL I din't say commercial crabbing is unsustainable nonsense. Lots of crustacean fishery work well. The chesapeake fishery is in shambles. Any fishery that allows too many harvesters to take as much as they can is mismanaged by definition.

[shoreboy6]

So your saying.............

[27 sailfish]

IMHO - Crabbing is better then last 5-6 years but still not as good as it can be.

Showing my age but in early 1980's - I used to run 1,000 foot trotline and often got close to a bushel of nice crabs ( roughly 5 dozen ). Baits were spaced about 4-5 feet apart.

Now I hear guys brag about getting 8-15 crabs per run on lines baited every 2-3 feet.

The crab population is OK but not really recovered.

[Tom Powers]

The way to actually track this is to have a pot tagging system, where the individual crabbers pay for their tags. Then we would know several things.

1. We would have a better handle on how many pots are actually set. (Assuming that an individual with a 500 pot license could choose to purchase 250 tags) Also assuming that folks that are not fishing their pots would not purchase tags.

2. We would have a feel for lost pots as individuals came back asking to buy replacement tags.

Crabbers that I talk to say that they loose about 10% to 20% of their pots each year. What is frustrating is the (relatively small number of) crabbers who abandon their gear at the end of the season.

[Matt]

The way to actually track this is to have a pot tagging system, where the individual crabbers pay for their tags. Then we would know several things.

1. We would have a better handle on how many pots are actually set. (Assuming that an individual with a 500 pot license could choose to purchase 250 tags) Also assuming that folks that are not fishing their pots would not purchase tags.

2. We would have a feel for lost pots as individuals came back asking to buy replacement tags.

Crabbers that I talk to say that they loose about 10% to 20% of their pots each year. What is frustrating is the (relatively small number of) crabbers who abandon their gear at the end of the season.

I wonder why crabbers abandon their pots. What economic reasons? Seems like a bad business investment. Or maybe its good...for the crabber.

[coggi]

I wonder why crabbers abandon their pots. What economic reasons? Seems like a bad business investment. Or maybe its good...for the crabber.

Wow matt that was so insightful, thank you for that.

[Matt]

an economic upside to just abandoning gear...? The ghost pot papers didn't say anything about that. I wonder if there are other things they chose not to talk about. Coggi what do you think about the idea that commercial crabbers simply litter the bay with unwanted gear?

[coggi]

I personally find it hard to believe that they just dump gear in the bay. Considering that you can reuse cull rings,irons and latches off off old pots. Its not saying someone hasn't but I find it hard to believe.

[Matt]

More substance for a good solid forensic study. Ghost pots with cull rings,irons and latches were probably not abandoned by the person who owned the pots. Just thinking out loud, what if significant numbers of pots were abandoned with all that hardware in the same area in the same year, but the all the rope was removed?