On October 31, we kicked off the Ghost Trap Recovery Project with the first dives of the project. Following that, a Public Safety Day event occurred with the Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Environmental Police and Beverly Fire Department Dive Team with support from Salem Sound Coastwatch and Essex Tech students. Both events were a success with traps recovered, logged and recycled. We also had a ton of learnings on both line handling, dive operations, hauling operations and coordination which will help us as we continue the project. We are extremely appreciative of the collaboration with the fishing community and local lobsterman who are also supporting these efforts. This highlights one of the guiding principles of this project – partnership and collaboration. We’re so excited by the progress we’ve made and the positive energy associated with the project.
The dive operations were conducted with experienced divers, some using DPVs. We had underwater visibility of about 10-12 feet, and little current until the end of the diving window when we had significant current, highlighting the unique and sometimes challenging conditions in the harbor.
We also had the opportunity to learn a bit about what we’re finding down there. Some traps are already “neutralized” meaning they are not ghost fishing. These tend to be the ones that are almost completely buried in the sand. Traps like this will not come up. However, we also found lots of trap
s that are ghost fishing and these are the ones we’re most focused on. Once topside and logged in, the bycatch is released back into the water.
The data we’re collecting is informative. We are logging where the traps were found with the biologists that are on the hauling fishing vessel and then further characterizing them once on the pier. The data helps us focus our areas for diving and knowing where we are seeing more concentrated areas of traps or where they are more dispersed.
So, more to come and stay tuned for project updates. More information and the diver participation interest form can be found here: https://ghosttraprecovery.com
The official start of the project is getting closer! We plan to kick off with the first dive operation on October 31. For this first event, a group of experienced and trained divers will pilot the operation and provide feedback which will inform how we refine and optimize our work for the Beverly Harbor diving environment. We also have set dates for the dives, which are below. Some winter months when weather is even more unpredictable have back-up dates associated with them.