PORT ARANSAS (Texas) You are familiar with the Little Mermaid song Under The Sea. You might not know what you are seeing above the ocean, but abandoned crab traps.
Texas Parks and Wildlife has decided to close crab trapping in Texas for 10 days in order to clean up abandoned crab traps.
Katie Swanson braved the cold in Port Aransas on Friday morning to get ready for crab trap season.
Swanson, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s stewardship coordination for Mission Aransas Reserve, is taking part in their clean-up because of her passion about the ocean.
Swanson stated, “It’s something I have always been passionate about.” “It’s something I feel is directly related to our ocean and our resources. We are the only ones who can blame marine debris.
She said that abandoned crab traps can cause damage to the ocean environment, such as marsh habitats and shorelines.
Katya Wowk, a senior scientist from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Harte Research Institute, said that abandoned traps can also impact fish in the area like blue crabs or spotted sea trout. They are affected by ghost fishing, she said.
Wowk stated that while these species are not actually being caught, they do get trapped in traps and die.
Wowk said that abandoned crab traps also have a negative economic impact on fishermen in the area, as fish get trapped in ghost traps. That fisherman could have caught or sold them.
She said that Texas Parks and Wildlife captured about 4,500 traps under their program, which cost approximately $138,000 each to replace.
Savannah Martinez, an education specialist and volunteer coordinator at Mission Aransas Reserve, UTMSI, stated that she volunteers because she is passionate about cleaning up the ocean.
She said that abandoned crab traps could not only affect fish but also sea reptiles.
We might occasionally find turtles trapped in them, and part of what we do here, especially with the ARK is to rescue sea turtles so they pose a threat Martinez stated.
More information about volunteering is available hereHere