Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina Coastal Federation seeks commercial fishers for recovery project

January 30, 2026 — The North Carolina Coastal Federation is asking more commercial fishers to enlist in its Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project to locate and collect lost crab pots.

The Federation kicked off the project in January. For 12 years, the Federation worked in cooperation with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to remove lost crab pots from the North Carolina sounds and waterways.

“Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways. Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards for boaters, wildlife, and fishermen,” Federation representatives wrote in a press release.

Commercial fishers are hired to collect pots during the annual closure of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots. The closure runs Jan. 1-31 for waters north and east of the Highway 58 bridge over Bogue Sound to Emerald Isle, and March 1-15 for waters south and west of the Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.

Read the full article at WECT

NORTH CAROLINA: Annual fishing gear recovery kicks off

January 22, 2026 — This month, the North Carolina Coastal Federation kicked off its 12th annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, enlisting the support of 21 dedicated commercial fishermen and women. This initiative aims to locate and remove displaced and potentially dangerous fishing gear along the northern and central coast, noted NCCF. Throughout the month, crews will diligently search designated areas to recover lost crab pots, which pose serious threats to boaters, wildlife and the fishing community.

“Each year, crab pots and other gear are lost in our coastal waters due to various circumstances, creating hazards that can disrupt both the ecosystem and local fisheries,” stated a news release from NCCF. “Since its inception in 2014, the Federation has successfully led the charge to clear lost gear from North Carolina’s sounds, finding more than 24,000 lost crab pots.”

This year, commercial fishermen will be active from January 8-31, during the annual closure that prohibits the use of crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots in internal coastal waters, specifically north of the Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle. Last year, collaborative efforts between commercial watermen and the N.C. Marine Patrol resulted in the recovery of an impressive 2,136 pots across all three Marine Patrol Districts.

NORTH CAROLINA: 12th lost fishing gear recovery effort begins this week

January 9, 2026 –The North Carolina Coastal Federation has launched its 12th annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, an initiative to locate and remove displaced and potentially dangerous fishing gear from the northeast and central regions of the coast.

The project takes place each year during the annual closure prohibiting the use of crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots in internal coastal waters north of the N.C. 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.

During this year’s closure, which is Jan. 8-31, the 21 commercial fishermen and women hired for the project are to remove from designated areas any lost crab pots and other hazards from specific areas within Marine Patrol Districts 1 and 2.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina begins recruiting fishers for 2026 edition of crab gear recovery project

November 14, 2025 — Each winter, the blue crab fishery in the U.S. state of North Carolina closes for the season, but rather than simply heading home to wait until the next season opens, local fishermen turn their attention to what has been left behind.

Since 2014, the state’s Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation in partnership with the North Carolina Marine Patrol and the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries, has hired commercial fishermen to remove derelict gear from the state’s waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial fishers invited to join annual lost gear recovery effort along N.C. coast

November 12, 2025 — The North Carolina Coastal Federation is seeking commercial fishers to take part in its annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, a large-scale effort that removes derelict crab pots and other debris from coastal waters each winter.

The project, which began in 2014, employs local commercial captains and their crews to help clear lost crab pots and abandoned gear from North Carolina’s sounds. The 2026 cleanup is scheduled for January 1–31, and applications are open through December 12 on the federation’s website.

Participating captains must hold a valid North Carolina standard commercial fishing license. Those working in the state’s southeast region will have a later window — March 1–15 — with a separate call for applicants expected early next year.

“Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways,” the Coastal Federation stated. “Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards for boaters, wildlife, and fishermen.”

The initiative is conducted in partnership with the North Carolina Marine Patrol, and in 2025, participating crews retrieved 2,136 crab pots from select coastal areas.

Read the full article at Island Free Press

NORTH CAROLINA: NC lost gear recovery effort pulls more than 2000 pots

November 12, 2025 — Each winter, when the North Carolina blue crab fishery closes for the season, a kind of clean-up effort happens. Rather than hauling in traps full of crab, local fishermen turn their efforts into what has been left behind.

Now in its 11th year, the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation in partnership with the N.C. Marine Patrol and the Division of Marine Fisheries mobilize commercial fishermen to remove derelict gear from state waters. The 2025 cleanup drew 50 participants who collected 2136 lost crab pots from sounds and estuaries stretching from the Virginia line to the South Carolina border.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: NCCF, commercial fishermen prepare to recover lost fishing gear

January 8, 2021 — A Carteret County-based coastal conservation nonprofit and partnered commercial fishermen are preparing to collect lost fishing gear.

The N.C. Coastal Federation is set to begin its seventh year of the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project. According to an announcement from the federation Tuesday, 31 commercial watermen along the northern and central coast will set out this week into sounds to collect lost crab pots. The boat crews will conduct crab pot removal each day starting around Friday. Removal will take approximately one week.

“Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways,” the federation said. “Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating hazards to boaters and wildlife. Since 2014, the federation has led the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project in an effort to remove lost crab pots from North Carolina sounds.”

With the help of various partners, commercial fishermen and women are hired to collect the pots during the no-potting period, which is the annual closure of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: NCCF seeks fishermen to help collect lost gear

November 30, 2020 — Commercial fishermen in Carteret County and elsewhere are invited to help the N.C. Coastal Federation clean up the waters by collecting lost gear.

The NCCF announced Nov. 17 it’s accepting applications from commercial fishermen to assist with its lost fishing gear recover project in 2021. According to the federation’s announcement, every year crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in North Carolina’s sounds, creating hazards for boats and marine life.

“The North Carolina Coastal Federation is seeking applications to help clean up this debris through the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project,” the NCCF said. “The Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, is part of a statewide marine debris removal effort led by the federation. This project is open to commercial watermen and women in North Carolina.”

NCCF coastal education coordinator Sara Hallas said the project was last administered in 2019.

“We had eight boats working off the central coast, or Marine Patrol District 2,” she said. This area includes Carteret County. “Five of these crews were from Carteret County; the type of gear removed is focused on crab pots.”

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Fishermen Recover 4,270 Lost Crab Pots

February 16, 2017 — Commercial fishermen hired by the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project collected 4,270 lost and derelict crab pots this year from sounds up and down the state’s coast.

The project was able to hire 72 fishermen during a week and a half timeframe in January to remove the crab pots. Thanks to a $100,000 appropriation from the General Assembly, this was the first time the project had expanded beyond northeastern North Carolina. The program extended across three North Carolina Marine Patrol districts along the state’s coast, from the Virginia state line to the South Carolina line.

Read the full story at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial fishermen needed to help clean up fishing gear in coastal waters

November 29, 2016 — The North Carolina Coastal Federation is currently accepting applications from commercial fishermen interested in assisting with an on-water cleanup of lost fishing gear from coastal waters.

Watermen are selected to participate in the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project annually to help the federation and the North Carolina Marine Patrol remove lost fishing gear from coastal waters during the “no-potting” period, typically from Jan. 15 to Feb. 7.

In January of this year, eleven crews removed 753 pots from select areas in District 1. Combined with a shoreline cleanup, the project led to the removal of more than 7.5 tons of fishing gear and various marine debris from northeastern North Carolina waters, according to the NCCF news release.

The 2017 project will take place in select areas within all three Marine Patrol districts, statewide.

To qualify, watermen must have a valid Standard Commercial Fishing License and guarantee availability for work during the period of Jan. 18 through Feb. 7. They must also attend a mandatory training session to learn general project protocol and how to use project equipment.

Compensation is $400 per boat, per day. Each boat is required to have two people onboard for safety reasons. In some locations, more than one week of work could be possible for those accepted to this program.

The project is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program and is intended to improve habitat and water quality, as well as support coastal economies.

Read the full story at the Jacksonville Daily News