Derelict Fishing Gear: A Growing Hazard for Whales and Boaters Alike
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By Norris Comer, Published in best4boats.com.
The tragic recent stranding of a young humpback whale on Oregon’s coast has renewed attention on the widespread problem of derelict fishing gear—an issue that affects not only marine mammals but recreational and commercial boaters navigating U.S. coastal waters. For anyone who has cruised areas with active commercial fisheries, the concern of tangling a propeller on abandoned crab pots or lost lines is all too familiar.
As Norris Comer reports for Best4Boats.com, the dangers of derelict gear extend far beyond whale entanglement:
As a boater who has cruised on those wild Oregon Coast waters, the constant concern of wrapping the prop on crab pots is right up there with foul weather and hitting a log. One readily forgives and understands the presence of active crab pots during the fishing season, but the fact remains that there are generations of old crab pots out there forgotten and abandoned that now represent real hazards.
I doubt this is a uniquely Pacific Northwest phenomenon either with boaters and whales around the world dodging derelict gear of their regions’ respective fisheries. To put it bluntly, very little effort is generally spent addressing old gear at all—so it languishes, forever, until a boater or whale comes along and something bad happens.
Oregon has taken an innovative approach to address this problem. New regulations allow licensed crabbers to retain catch from any derelict crab pot with an expired tag—essentially a “finders keepers” rule that creates financial incentive for removing abandoned gear from the water.
According to NOAA’s 2024 report, there were 95 confirmed large whale entanglement cases nationally last year, up from 64 in 2023 and above the 17-year average of 71.4 incidents annually.
Read the full article here: Derelict Fishing Gear Hurts Whales and Boaters
