January 6, 2023 — This month, with the help of dozens of commercial fishermen and women, the N.C. Coastal Federation, based in Ocean, will begin efforts to find and remove potentially dangerous lost fishing gear. This is the ninth year the federation has held the annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project. Throughout the month watermen will scour parts of the northern and central coast looking to find and remove lost crab pots.
Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways. Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards to boaters, wildlife, and other fishermen. Since 2014, the federation has led the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project in an effort to remove lost crab pots from North Carolina sounds.
With the help of various partners, commercial fishermen and women are hired to collect the pots during the annual closure of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish, and shrimp pots, Jan. 1-31 north of the Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.