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07/16/2008: "Report Derelict Fishing Gear"

(Otter in net -NSI photo)

In the San Juan Islands, there is an average of 13 derelict fishing nets per shoreline mile, with much higher local concentrations in heavily fished areas. Nets continue to catch marine life indiscriminately and can significantly smother and/or damage marine habitats.

In San Juan county in August 2006 a fishing boat suffered mechanical problems and had to be towed in to port. The net was cut because the boat equipment could not function to bring it on board. The boat captain reported the incident and provided the location to the derelict gear hotline hosted by WDFW (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife).

The net was removed seven days later, but after only a week in the water, the impact of this single net was astounding. Found in the net were:


• 1 dead harbor seal
• 30 dead red rock crab
• 38 dead kelp crab
• 30 dead spiny dogfish sharks
• 25 dead sockeye salmon
• 5 dead Chinook salmon
• 30 dead rockfish
• 40 dead kelp greenling
• 90 dead flatfish
• 110 dead spotted ratfish
• 30 dead lingcod

To date, derelict nets contained 30,939 live and dead animals including 22 dead marine mammals, 378 dead birds, 1,022 live and dead fish, and 29,517 live and dead invertebrates. 1,940 crab and other animals found alive and 468 dead animals recovered from derelict crab pots.

To date, the NWSC’s derelict gear project has resulted in the removal of over 600 derelict nets and 1,248 derelict crab pots weighing over 121,000 lbs. The removal of the derelict nets has restored over 140 acres of critical habitat in the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The derelict nets contained over 18,000 live and dead animals including 17 dead marine mammals, 208 dead seabirds and 904 live and dead fish and 16,875 live and dead invertebrates. Of the 1,248 derelict pots removed contained 385 dead and 1,806 live crab and 357 pots or 37% were still actively fishing.

A Derelict Gear-Free Puget Sound by 2012: Puget Sound has a rich maritime heritage centered on an extensive history of commercial and recreational fisheries. These fisheries have in part defined the culture and economy of the region, but they have also left another legacy-"one of abandoned or lost fishing gear throughout Puget Sound.

Derelict fishing gear can continue to catch and kill marine life long after it is lost and can also damage marine habitats. Starting in 2002, the Northwest Straits Initiative (Initiative) -in partnership with tribes, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, and NOAA- pioneered a nationally recognized program to locate and remove derelict fishing gear in Puget Sound.