King County supporting project to remove deadly derelict fishing gear from Puget Sound
Derelict fishing nets, crab pots and other gear creating a death trap in Puget Sound are being removed as a part of a King County Brightwater mitigation project.
King County is providing $25,000 to the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative to organize the removal of several derelict fishing nets and crab pots around Puget Sound.
Natural Resources Consultants, a firm with extensive experience removing derelict fishing gear in Puget Sound, is performing the work.
The project is one of several being carried out to mitigate the impacts associated with building and operating Brightwater’s 600-foot-deep, mile-long outfall in Puget Sound off Point Wells, where highly treated effluent will be discharged when the new plant begins operating in 2011.
A crew from Natural Resources Consultants is working to remove dozens of crab pots from eelgrass beds from several areas of the sound. During last month’s operations, crews removed several pieces of dangerous derelict gear, including:
- A 500-foot-long fishing net that killed a harbor seal and briefly ensnared a SCUBA diver near Blakely Rocks just over a month ago;
- An East Waterway fishing net that entangled a sport fishing vessel and posed a navigation hazard to other craft;
- Another fishing found net tangled among mooring buoys at Agate Pass that had already killed several seabirds and fish.
- A net near a popular diving location off Shoreline’s Boeing Creek area that poses a hazard to human life.
According to estimates by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), hundreds of tons of lost fishing nets, lines and crab pots in Puget Sound indiscriminately trap and kill birds, fish, marine mammals that become entangled. Derelict fishing gear is also dangerous to divers, swimmers and boaters.
Fishing gear removal projects are highly successful because improved fishing practices and “no fault” reporting policies have significantly reduced the amount of newly abandoned or lost gear. The majority of derelict fishing gear is several decades old.
King County recently removed derelict fishing gear from 5.3 acres in Colvos Passage as mitigation for the Vashon Island Wastewater Treatment Plant project, which was completed in 2007.
WDFW can provide more information about derelict fishing gear on the Web at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/derelict/ (external link). People can also call the WDFW Derelict Fishing Gear Hotline at 1-800-477-6224.
Related Information:
Puget Sound Marine Life Photos