According to a survey the statistics and casualties are keeping piling up. It also revealed that the San Juans are home to the highest concentration of derelict fishing gear anywhere in Puget Sound. The survey was conducted by the Northwest Straits. Ginny Broadhurst, Director Northwets Straits, contends that currents and the many rocks and reefs in the archipelago, as well as the islands’ legacy as a commercial fishing hub, would account for the chart-leading accumulation of derelict and deadly fishing gear.
In a presentation Broadhurst acknowledged there’s a lot of the Sound which has yet to be surveyed. She told that the survey turned up 261 abandoned fishing nets and 4,797 wayward crab pots overall. Areas in and around Hood Canal, Point Roberts, Lawson Reef and Similk Bay were surveyed in addition to the pair of day-long investigations on the south end of San Juan and Lopez islands.
According to Broadhurst there’s still a tremendous amount of area in the San Juans we haven’t surveyed yet. She added that the impact to crabs is much higher than you might expect. Around 37 percent of pots are still actively fishing and about 10 percent of the state harvest level is being wasted in these type of traps, says Broadhurst.
The Northwest Straits Commission provides funding for seven marine resource committees in North Puget Sound and a phalanx of citizen-based marine restoration efforts. Its derelict fishing gear removal programme has earned the commission accolades and allies at the state, federal and tribal level.
