Fishing Gear Recovery
In our region, lobstering is one of the largest fisheries in terms of numbers of participants (1,150 commercial and 10,000+ recreational), gear deployed (hundreds of thousands of pots) and pounds landed (16.5 million pounds in 2015).
Other important fisheries in Cape Cod Bay include aquaculture/mariculture, gillnetting, groundfishing and shellfishing.
Lobstermen use polystyrene or polyurethane buoys, polyester, polypropylene or a co-polymer rope, and hundreds of thousands of PVC-coated wire traps to harvest their catch. Other plastic components important to the fisheries are ID tags, escape vents, cages, zip ties, and bait bags. All of these items can be inadvertently lost during the course of fishing, and all persist in the marine environment unless recovered and disposed of.
It is estimated that between 5-15% of lobster gear is lost each year to storm action, propellers, or interactions with mobile fishing gear. Certain regulations may also contribute to loss of gear in some areas, or to the degradation of gear such that it requires frequent replacement.
The Center for Coastal Studies has been collaborating with fishermen from Cape Cod and throughout New England to address the problem of lost, abandoned, and derelict fishing gear in the marine environment.