The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Marine Debris and Plastics Program was awarded a two-year SNEP Watershed Implementation Grant to locate, remove and properly dispose of lost fishing gear and other debris from Cuttyhunk Island. Cuttyhunk is approximately 1 square mile in area, located in Buzzards Bay north of Block Island, and is the southernmost of the Elizabeth Islands. Roughly 10 people reside on the island year-round; the peak of summer sees 500 seasonal residents.
In 2023, the CCS group removed eight tons of debris from Cuttyhunk in a week-long residency. During the week of May 19th, 2024, CCS staff, volunteers, students from the Gull Island Institute and island residents collaborated to remove approximately 200 more lobster traps and hundreds of pounds of other debris from the shoreline. Many of the traps were over twenty years old, embedded along the coast or tossed up into fields above the shore, and required heavy lifting, dragging over boulder-strewn beaches, and bucket-brigade transfers from shore to road, where they were hauled by trailer to be processed for recycling.
Data from trap tags were collected to assess trap age, permit holder information, and fishing area. These data, along with data from other CCS removal projects, may help inform fishery policies that could lower the likelihood of gear loss. In addition to the traps and their tags, the group collected data on recovered rope, nets, plastic Clorox, Gatorade and water bottles, and other debris items.
Participating marine debris artists surveyed the resultant piles of debris to claim materials for their work, and all other debris items were loaded into dumpsters to be recycled or disposed of on the mainland. Artists from Cape Cod, New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard will use some of the found materials from this week-long debris removal effort to create sculptures and woven textiles to educate the public about marine debris and ocean conservation.
Project director Laura Ludwig will present a slideshow about this and other island-based debris extractions at the Oak Bluffs Library on Martha’s Vineyard on June 6th.
This project is supported by Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Implementation Grants.SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through a collaboration with Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE). For more on SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants, see www.snepgrants.org
Photos, Top: CCS Cuttyhunk brigade, photo by Nancy Wilder; Below: Cuttyhunk trap bin, photo by Sarah Thornington.