It’s pretty easy for watermen to lose their crab pots out on the turbulent waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
The cage-like traps are attached to the surface by a line and buoy system stretching deep into the water. Those lines can get sliced by passing boats, blown around by storms or stuck in the mud, said Ralph Bonniville, who’s been crabbing locally for almost five decades.
“Every spring down in the bay, you lose a lot,” he said.
Crabbers often lose around 20% of their pots each season, according to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary, adding up to roughly 145,000 at the bottom of the bay in any given year.
"Lost" pots show up pretty often here. We have lots of crab pots in summer, and lots of boat traffic to cut them off. I may have cut off a few myself, and not deliberately. Some of them even show up on shore.
Bonniville is part of a VIMS program working to recover many of those “ghost” crab pots littering local waterways. The school received an $8 million grant in 2023 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Funding through that law is now a target of the Trump administration.)
Over the next several years, VIMS will distribute the money for work to retrieve derelict fishing gear from protected ecosystems. That includes the local effort, but also projects in California, Florida, Delaware, Maryland, New York and even the island nation of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean.
Palau? It would be a shame to go to Palau and spend the whole time looking for lost fish and crab pots. But I'll bet that's not what's happening. Why can't the Palauans pick up their own damn crab pots?
Though boats are a common sight in counties surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, abandoned vessels have become a significant issue in Prince George’s County. During a County Council meeting on Feb. 11, the CB-002-2025 legislation was received favorably after undergoing amendments. The bill is expected to be finalized within the next month.
The primary goal of the bill is to discourage the abandonment of boats on highways, roads, and public streets. Local residents have also voiced concerns about abandoned watercraft littering their neighborhoods.
Parking a watercraft on public roadways can disrupt traffic flow, and one council member described abandoned boats as an eyesore that may impact property values.
“We also have the quality-of-life issues. Sometimes these boats are deteriorating and abandoned. They’re an eyesore. They’re negatively affecting neighborhood appearance and property values.”
Olsen also noted that removing derelict boats from public streets could ease road congestion.
“Unlike typical vehicles, boats are often larger and create unnecessary road congestion when left on public streets. Sometimes cars have to go around, crossing the center line, to go around them.”
If you leave a boat on the street too long in Calvert County, or if one of your Karen neighbors complains, the county will come along and tell you to move it, or else. Too long, and or else are not precisely defined. Ask me how I know.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Denim on the Beach up and garnering clicks at the Other McCain.
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