Effort cleans up sea floor from old gear, preventing marine entanglements
Laura Ludwig, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies project coordinator for the ghost gear recovery, helps unload traps at MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown.Cape Cod Times/Steve Heaslip
PROVINCETOWN — Fishing vessel crews from the All In and Miss Lilly pulled in at around 2 p.m. Tuesday to MacMillan Pier from a morning of "ghost" busting.
Both boats were loaded with old fishing gear, known as "ghost gear," that the fishermen had scraped up from the sea floor, in the third annual effort to return lobster traps to owners and rid the sea of junk.
On Tuesday, they found 47 traps, a marine battery, a toilet bowl, a mucky steel boom, and piles and piles of rope and nets.
The fishermen were part of the Fishing for Energy program, a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Covanta Energy, Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Local partners are the Provincetown Center of Coastal Studies, the Provincetown Public Pier Corp. and the Provincetown Harbormaster's Office.
Derelict gear is a problem because it continues to trap and entangle marine life, according to material distributed by the partnership. The gear can accumulate over time, creating islands of metal and rope that get moved around in storms and harm fragile habitats. The floating masses can also foul up vessels and active fishing gear, potentially affecting maritime industries.
"I think it's a good idea," Miss Lilly owner Mike Rego of North Truro said on the pier. Ghost gear program coordinator, Laura Ludwig, of the coastal studies center, had asked him to pitch in.
Tuesday's stash was added to the 98 traps that the two vessels had pulled up on Saturday and Sunday.
More than a dozen of those traps were identified and some returned to their owners. The boats had also pulled up cable, nets, an engine block and buoys.
The crews are working in areas where gear has been reported and in areas where side-scan sonar surveys have revealed gear. The recovery consists of dragging lightweight grapples along the sea floor. The gear has come primarily from around Long Point, along the shoreline near Wood End Light and to a lesser degree near the Pamet River in North Truro, Ludwig said.
The fishing crews document what they pull up and that is used to help determine the effects that lost fishing gear have on living resources. The information is logged in a regional at-sea recovery database as well, she said.
Each vessel owner is paid $650 for their efforts, which includes the cost of fuel, Ludwig said. The money comes from a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and allows for 12 boat trips from MacMillan Pier. On Tuesday, Ludwig expected to get in another three days with two vessels.
"I don't like the idea of human-created waste in the ocean," she said.
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