County readies program to remove traps from shallows

By Steve Estes

As lobster and then stone crab seasons come to a close in the next few months, Florida Keys waters will become home to a different type of harvest.

When local fisherman have pulled their commercial traps for the final time, the traps that are left will be part of a derelict trap harvest.

According to Rich Jones, Monroe County marine resources director, the county has secured some funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clean up storm debris from 2008 storms.

Even though 2008 was a much lighter-than-average hurricane season, there were still winds and high waters that dislodged commercial fishing traps. Many of those dislodged traps wound up in shallow water, with more in the Middle and Lower Keys than elsewhere.

Often, it is cheaper for commercial fishermen to replace traps blown around by storms than to try and find them. Also, every storm season puts a certain number of commercial fishermen out of business with their dislodged traps just lying around creating hazards to navigation.

The trap debris is considered a threat to public health and safety which is why the county is implementing the program, said Jones, and why FEMA agreed to help pay for it.

Dislodged traps that come to rest in shallow water pose a hazard to navigation for recreational vessels. Boats can run over abandoned lines, suffering damage to props and lower units, or strike submerged traps in shallow areas where they don’t normally exist.

Jones estimates that there are thousands of derelict traps currently littering the waters in the Middle and Lower Keys from just 2008 storm events.

According to Jones, the county already has a contractor on board to handle derelict trap removal.