Marine Debris

Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Program

Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds. The Federation and local partners work to remove these pots, which are hazardous to boats and marine life.

Since 2014, the Federation has led the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project to remove lost crab pots from North Carolina sounds. Crab pots can become lost in a variety of ways, including large weather events. With the help of various partners, commercial fishermen are hired to collect the pots during the pot closure period. This project creates opportunities for work during slower times of the year due to colder waters and what is now a month-long blue crab fishery closure, which is longer than in years past.

Video by The Outer Banks Voice. Taken during the 2018 statewide cleanup.

NC Coastal Federation works to remove lost crab pots with the help of fishermen – WNCT9

This program, which began in northeastern North Carolina waters and has since expanded statewide, improves fish habitat and water quality and supports the coastal economy. The program’s expansion enabled the Federation to hire more significant numbers of commercial fishermen to collect more lost pots.

This program was initially funded by the North Carolina Sea Grant and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Beginning in 2014, NOAA provided additional support to continue the efforts in 2015 and 2016. The North Carolina General Assembly helped to provide funds to expand the program to a coastwide effort in 2017-2019 and again in 2022 as part of a large-scale marine debris removal project. The Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Program provided funding support to restart the project in 2021 after resources were not available to conduct the work in 2020. The Commercial Fishing Resource Program continued to fund the project through 2023-2025.

Recent Updates

2025 Update

A total of 50 commercial watermen and women collected 2,136 crab pots in early 2025 as part of the grant-funded project in the northeast, central coast, and southeast coasts. The project was funded by the N.C. Commercial Fishing License Resource Fund. The Federation coordinated with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and N.C. Marine Patrol for this project.

Region-by-region breakdown

In Marine Patrol District 1, which covers the northeast region of the North Carolina coast from the Virginia line to Ocracoke, 17 boats made up of 34 commercial fishers picked up 1,430 crab pots.
In Marine Patrol District 2, which spans from Ocracoke to Emerald Isle, 3 boats made up of 6 commercial fishers removed 423 crab pots.
In Marine Patrol District 3, which spans from Cape Carteret to the South Carolina state line, 5 boats made up of 10 commercial fishers removed 283 crab pots.

In Marine Patrol District 1, whole pots recovered from the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound areas in good condition were sorted, stored, and made available for the rightful property owners to reclaim. Approximately 95% of these crab pots were claimed by their rightful owners through this process. This supports the coastal economy, as the value of a used crab pot put back into the industry is much greater than scrapping the gear for metal at pennies per pounded crab pot put back into the industry is much greater than scrapping the gear for metal at pennies per pound.

2024 Update

2023 Update

2022 Update

2021 Update

2019 Update

2018 Update

Program History

In 2013, the Federation received funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program and North Carolina Sea Grant to galvanize a partnership with local commercial fishermen, the North Carolina Marine Patrol, local nonprofits, scientists, and community volunteers to collect marine debris in northeastern North Carolina. The Federation then upcycled these recovered pots to build oyster reef habitats at three locations around Roanoke Island.

From 2014-2016, the Federation and partners conducted this project only in the first marine patrol district, or northeastern North Carolina waters. Over the three years, 41 total fishermen were employed in the following areas: Albemarle, Croatan, Currituck, Pamlico, and Roanoke Sounds; Alligator River; Bulls and Kitty Hawk Bay.

With additional funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program in 2015, the Federation was able to continue the project in northeastern North Carolina waters and was able to purchase new side-scan sonars and data collection tablets.

From Crab Pot to Oyster Reef

In 2014 and 2015, the Federation tested a new restoration technique — using recycled crab pots to create oyster reefs. The pots that were in good condition, yet unidentifiable, were upcycled to create the oyster reefs. In a multi-faceted process, the pots are cleaned and all entryways are closed to prevent possible bycatch. The pots are then coated in a pH-balanced mortar that serves to add weight to the pots while providing substrate for baby oysters (called spat) to land on. This “upcycling” was completed by several groups of college spring break students.

The Federation worked with the Division of Coastal Management and additional commenting agencies to secure the needed permits for recycled crab pot deployment. The pots were deployed as oyster reefs at three sites around Roanoke Island in the summer of 2015. A total of 150 pots were recycled to create artificial oyster reef habitat.

Similar work has been done with remarkable success in Virginia and South Carolina. Further, Dr. Niels Lindquist and Joel Fodrie of UNC Institute of Marine Sciences have experimented with upcycled pots near Morehead City.

2017 Statewide Expansion

In the summer of 2016, the North Carolina Assembly appropriated $100,000 to this project to facilitate a statewide expansion and hire greater numbers of commercial fishermen and women starting in January 2017. The funding was administered by N.C. Sea Grant and the 2017 project was a huge success. This additional funding enabled the Federation to hire 72 commercial watermen, who spread out along the coast to collect 4,304 crab pots — more than the three previous years combined.

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