Volunteers needed for crab trap removals
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Volunteers are being recruited to help reduce game fish killed in crab traps by finding and disposing derelict traps.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has sponsored this program since 2002. It has resulted in the collection of more than 29,000 wire mesh traps, primarily on the mid and upper coast.
Starting Feb. 17 and continuing through Feb. 26, all Texas bays will be closed for crabbing. Any traps left in the water will be assumed to be abandoned and considered “litter” under state law, allowing volunteers to legally remove any crab traps they find.
“A study of 1,703 abandoned traps showed that mostly live blue or stone crabs amounted to 74 percent of the content,” said Art Morris, TPWD program coordinator. “But the other 26 percent represented several species of sport and nongame fish, brackish water turtle species and various invertebrates. A total of 41 different species have been found caught in crab traps.”
Volunteers may arrange to pickup free tarps, gloves, trap hooks and additional information at their local TPWD Coastal Fisheries Field Stations. (See list on following page.)
