NC lost gear recovery effort pulls more than 2000 pots

Each winter, when the North Carolina blue crab fishery closes for the season, a kind of clean-up effort happens. Rather than hauling in traps full of crab, local fishermen turn their efforts into what has been left behind.

Now in its 11^th year, the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation in partnership with the N.C. Marine Patrol and the Division of Marine Fisheries mobilize commercial fishermen to remove derelict gear from state waters. The 2025 cleanup drew 50 participants who collected 2136 lost crab pots from sounds and estuaries stretching from the Virginia line to the South Carolina border.

The annual closure period is from Jan. 1-31 in the north and March 1-15 in the south, providing both the opportunity and the timing for recovery work. Crews were selected through an open application process, with each captain holding a valid standing commercial fishing license and passing a fisheries compliance review. They work under the scientific and educational activity permit and become authorized agents to retrieve lost fishing gear, an otherwise prohibited activity under state law.

Recovery teams logged their findings using tablets that were equipped with GPS software, recording the location, condition, and bycatch found in each trap.

In the northeastern areas, nearly 500 crab pots were marked with identifiable buoys and returned to their owners during a two-week return period in Wanchese. This represented a 95 percent return rate, which is the highest in the project’s history. The remaining gear was recycled, with more than 11,600 pounds of steel processed through regional facilities.

In addition to the on-water cleanup, eight volunteer shoreline events were organized from Wanchese to Atlantic Beach and Holly Ridge, engaging 144 volunteers who contributed nearly 700 hours and removed over 2000 pounds of debris.

The 2025 program was funded by the N.C. Commercial Fishing License Resource Fund, which has supported the project since 2021, after NOAA and Sea Grant funding helped launch it in 2024.