Too Many Crab Pots !

[SVMorningStar]

Same story down here in Florida. Some areas are almost impossible to anchor in because the floats are so close together. Even travelling on the ICW can require a float spotter in places. Had a prop fouled down in the Keys and had the engine shut down on us. What I don't understand is that I know the crabbers put alot a money into their equipment. So why are so many of them placed where they're almost guaranteed to have them damaged or lose them? If they put them in the middle of the channell, they WILL get tangled by some boat and probably have their lines cut. I know that if I invest money in expensive equipment, I want to place it where it will last the longest. The worst part of it all is that those same lost pots continue to attract and catch more crabs/lobster/fish. As they die, they act as bait. These lost traps are at least a part of the reason that catches are down.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

In North Carolina we not only have a law that prohibits traps in marked channels, but we also have a law that prohibits traps in more than 6 feet of water. T

Maybe, but 16 months ago I know I saw tons of pots on Albemarle S. in water deeper than that.

Some 10 -15 years ago we rode in a small CG boat from Wachepreague to the now abandoned base on the barrier island. Narrow channel with several pots in the middle. Asked the Coastguardman whether that wasn't illegal, and he said as long as yuo had room to get around it, it was OK !!!

My thought is with the hundreds of thousands of acres of shallow water on the Chesapeake suitable for a crab pot, and the relatively small percentage of those acres suitable for a protected anchorage, there is no justification for watermen to monopolize those as well.

The farmer reaps what he himself sows. The waterman, while I respect how hard he works, and the conditions he sometimes works under, merely reaps. I'd say those crabs and oysters out there are just as much mine as they are his. Leave my share of them alone! The Bay has been damaged from so many oysters having been removed.

[capn_billl]

I like crabbing myself, but reasonable limits as to where you can and can't put the traps would be better for everybody. They may try to place the traps near the edge of the channel, but they always seem to end up in the middle.

[biltong]

While sailing north through the Caribbean we were confronted by, in some cases hundreds of lobster pots. Many of the areas were set in narrow channels. Some seine nets were Vee - d into these channels so that you would only notice once you saw that the buoys started to converge. All this was a nervy experience, but manageable. What was not acceptable were the badly marked and sometimes seemigly camouflaged buoys. It would seem to make more sense to everyone concerned to have these markers very visable, maybe even similar to danbuoys with short poles and identifying flags. What seems to be obvious is that the crabbers do not want to have to replace damaged traps and that Boaters wouldn't want their props fouled. Surely there is some compromise which will be suitable to all.

[CastOff]

"After that I wrote a very courteous e-mail to the local marine patrol district manager and asked him to have his local officers enforce the specific laws about placement of crab traps. He said he would have his patrol officers look into the situation. One month and 11 days later the traps are still there. One of the local fellows pointed out to me that the local patrol officer was from a family of crabbers and it would make for some awkward family get togethers if he busted his cousins."

THE ABOVE IS WHAT I CALL 'GOOD OL' SOUTHERN BOY CRONYISM'. It leads to one taking matters into one's own hands when your TAX PAID Officials FAIL to act in THEIR capacities IMO. I've never failed to 'help fix' the situation on my own out on the water when it needs fixing. Spent 10 years lobstering in CT/NY/ Long Island Sound waters and never lost a trap to stupidity on my part. I used brightly colored floats, spaced my pots in non navigable waters for sailboats (speedboat yahoos are a WHOLE 'nother story!). Why the ICW Pot fisherman can not seem to follow simple regs is beyond me, other than sheer Redneckness. If your pot line fouls my prop, it's now my pot and the contents my lunch....as I would expect if you fouled on my pot.

Be curious to know which 'Prop guard' the OP had that did not work? Line cutter too?!

[Bright Eyes]

Originally Posted by CastOff

Be curious to know which 'Prop guard' the OP had that did not work? Line cutter too?!

I purchased the Prop Protector clamp on version less than a month before.

Conlyn Marine Services - Prop Protector#

Still had a whole line and floaty wrapped around it. I guess I need a sharper one!

[CastOff]

If you have a hull cleaner dive on your bottom, always ask them to clean the prop Protector and use a file on it. They can clog and get dull just sitting underwater in warmer areas.

[OldGraySailor]

I boated for years on the Chesapeake (Middle River) before realizing that the small white pylon pairs are marking "float free channels." These are set by the MD/DNR Office of Fisheries. Most crabbers honor them. I've seen these channels on many of the river enterances. The last year or two has seen far fewer crab floats since they can't take females, and I haven't seen all the channel markets set. Perhaps budgetary issues are having their effect.

[rebel heart]

Guys who make a living on the water get higher priority than us pleasure boaters. We're not Columbus charting the new world and they're trying to make ends meet.

I'd rephrase your problem and ask why you're in such a high population area. In pretty much every spot in the world if you go 20 miles in some other direction you'll be in desolation again.