BATON ROUGE, LA (WVUE) - Over the course of two February weekends, volunteers, staff and members of the commercial fishing industry report they retrieved more than 2,500 traps during the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' annual Derelict Crab Trap Rodeo.

Two events were held on separate Saturdays, but cleanup efforts continued in the designated areas throughout the closure period.

The Lake Pontchartrain cleanup, headed by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, was based out of Pelican Pointe Marina in Orleans Parish on February 13. Volunteers from the Basin Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local chapters of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana worked with LDWF personnel to collect 554 traps during the event, and as the collection continues, officials report an additional 832 traps were collected during the closure for a grand total of 1,386 traps removed.

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