1st Annual Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Crab Trap Cleanup
 
Saturday, August 15th CCA members from around Central Florida gathered at Haulover Canal, on the edge of Mosquito Lagoon, to participate in the First Annual Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Crab Trap Cleanup. Primarily focused on the Mosquito Lagoon area, the cleanup was made possible in part due to a recent change in the laws governing crab fishing. There are now rolling 10 day closures for crab fishing around the state. During these closures all legal, working traps must be removed from the waters of the specific region. This closure makes it much easier to set up events just like this, where any trap in the water is considered abandoned and subject to disposal.
 
Working with officials from the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Capt. Chris Peterson, CCA life member and owner of Hell’s Bay Boatworks, both sponsored and spearheaded the cleanup with the help of many great volunteers and sponsors. CCA Florida would like to thank Capt. Chris and Wendi Peterson and the entire Hell’s Bay Boatworks team for their support of this project. We would also like to thank Stan Howarter and all of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge staff as well as the FWC and all of our sponsors; Hell’s Bay Boatworks, Mosquito Creek Outdoors, The Fly Fisherman, Coastal Angler Magazine, ESPN Outdoors, The National Wildlife Refuge Systems, United Waterfowlers – Florida, Merritt Island Wildlife Association, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.   
 
The importance of removing these “ghost traps” from our waters is twofold. First and foremost, these traps continue to catch and kill crabs and other marine life as long as they are in the water. This was evidenced by the many traps that were retrieved with dead crabs and other animals in them. Secondly, as anyone who has spent an hour or two unwinding yards of chicken wire out of their prop can tell you, these traps also pose a threat to navigation. Many of the traps recovered that day had no marker buoys attached and several had obviously been hit by an outboard motor. At the end of the day, with the efforts of all of the volunteers, we were able to remove 79 abandoned traps from our waters!
 
For more information about the crab season closures and how you can organize a crab trap cleanup in your area please visit the FWC website Derelict Trap Retrieval and Debris Removal Program or contact Dan Askin, CCA Florida General Manager, at 321-663-2588