ESSEX, Md. — Baltimore County and the non-profit Oyster Recovery Partnership are expanding their effort to remove neglected crab traps from the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay.
Last year the partnership resulted in 2,300 pieces being recovered from the Patapsco River.
In 2023 the goal is to remove an additional 2,000 or so derelict pots along a 3,000-acre area, northeast of Hart Miller Island, off the Back River Neck peninsula.
To do so watermen are using side-scan sonar technology that detects pot debris that are now submerged.
It's estimated these "ghost traps" kill millions of crabs, fish and turtles annually.
“Removing and recycling this debris is a vital project for the health of our waterways, and we’re proud to again bring together the environmental science community and local watermen for this win-win project,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “In removing thousands of derelict crab pots, we not only protect and improve the environment, but we do so in a way that also supports those who depend on the Bay for their livelihood.”
This latest effort is being funded in part by a $150,000 grant provide by Baltimore County's Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability.
The County is also launching an initiative to recycle oyster shells that can be dropped-off at the Eastern Sanitary Landfill on Days Cove Road in White Marsh.
