Numlock News: May 9, 2023 • Dinosaurs, Rodeos, Bounties
www.numlock.com
By Walt Hickey Crab Traps A new paper describes a project where shrimpers in Mississippi are paid a bounty of $5 for every derelict and abandoned crab trap they can remove from the waters. This ghost gear is a real issue for marine life as well as the people who make a living trying to catch that marine life: Lost traps continue to catch crabs even if they’re not being hauled in, an awful cycle where newly-caught crabs become bait for more crabs yet to come. They also get caught in shrimping nets, disrupting those workers. Over the course of the past three years, though, the bounty program has proven to be a solid success, with 45 percent of the shrimping fleet participating, removing 2,904 traps from the waters.
Numlock News: May 9, 2023 • Dinosaurs, Rodeos, Bounties
Numlock News: May 9, 2023 • Dinosaurs…
Numlock News: May 9, 2023 • Dinosaurs, Rodeos, Bounties
By Walt Hickey Crab Traps A new paper describes a project where shrimpers in Mississippi are paid a bounty of $5 for every derelict and abandoned crab trap they can remove from the waters. This ghost gear is a real issue for marine life as well as the people who make a living trying to catch that marine life: Lost traps continue to catch crabs even if they’re not being hauled in, an awful cycle where newly-caught crabs become bait for more crabs yet to come. They also get caught in shrimping nets, disrupting those workers. Over the course of the past three years, though, the bounty program has proven to be a solid success, with 45 percent of the shrimping fleet participating, removing 2,904 traps from the waters.