Ghost Crab Pots - Courtesy NOAA

For the past two weeks, watermen in Maryland’s part of the Chesapeake Bay have been hard at work. Not fishing for crabs, but rather collecting crab pots. These efforts were part of the Department of Natural Resources Ghost Crab Pot Retrieval Program.

The program is meant to help clean up the Bay and improve the blue crab industry. Some 360 watermen have pulled out nearly 1,500 ghost crab pots since February 22nd.

The program has received much praise from state and congressional leaders. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley told The Bay Net, “This is a great opportunity, because it not only improves the health of the Chesapeake Bay, but provides watermen with work.”

Why are removing these “ghost” or non-usable crab pots necessary? According to The Bay Net, pots can only last in salt water for about two years; they may then become unattached to their buoy and be sitting at the bottom of the Bay still catching the precious crabs that no one will be able to enjoy.

When people are out on the Bay, crab pot buoys can be seen everywhere, but how many more are underneath capturing crabs? Do people even think about this? State Officials told the Associated Press that they estimate thousands of pots have been lost.