Operation Crab Pot aims to clean up area waterways

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Story Published: Oct 6, 2009 at 4:20 PM PST

By KCBY Staff

CHARLESTON, Ore. - Some crab fishermen off the Oregon Coast have been busy harvesting something besides Dungeness Crab.

Taking the example from SOLV's annual each clean-up, the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission held a clean up of their own called Operation Crab Pot.

"If people can walk up and down the beaches from Brookings to Astoria and clean up beaches, if ATVers can take their time and effort to go out and clean the area that they spend all their time, why can't commercial fishermen spend time on the ocean each year," says Nick Furman with the Crab Commission.

And seven fishing boats up and down the coast did just that, for the first time they volunteered one day to recover lost crab gear from the ocean.

The boats picked up 41 crab pots left behind, and while it may seem like a small number, Furman says it's a large step in the right direction.

"We got a small start this year, we're hoping that it'll grow and that eventually we'll have something that parallels what's being done on land."

The crab gear that was recovered and identified was returned to its owners and the rest recycled.

Now ODFW is set to begin a large scale NOAA funded fishing gear recovery project this month.

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