Crab trap: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Equipment for catching crabs}}

{{for|a military operation|2023 missile strike on the Sevastopol Naval Base}}

[[File:Trampa de cangrejos, Parque natural de la Arrábida, Portugal, 2021-09-07, DD 08.jpg|thumb|A Portuguese crab trap]]

[[File:Crab pots, NMFS Compound - DPLA - f1db93643728f6a420d12f9e7734b255.JPG|thumb|right|Crap traps in Alaska]]

Crab has been a viable food source since [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]]s lived and fished on the [[Delmarva Peninsula]]. The [[Chesapeake Bay]], which is known for their Chesapeake Bay blue crabs (''[[Callinectes sapidus]]'') derives its name from "Chesepiook", a [[Susquehannock]] tribe word that means "Great Water".<ref>{{cite news |author=David A. Farenthold |date=December 12, 2006 |title=A dead Indian language is brought back to life |work=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A1 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101474_2.html?nav=rss_email/components}}</ref> These Susquehannock natives led European settlers to some of the best places to catch crabs. Even early treaties between European settlers and Native Americans included provisions for the rights of "[[Hunting]], Crabbing, [[Fowling]], and [[Fishing]]."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Maryland Blue Crab |publisher=skipjack.net |url=http://skipjack.net/le_shore/crab/history.htm |access-date=November 8, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107005316/http://www.skipjack.net/le_shore/crab/history.htm |archive-date=November 7, 2011 }}</ref> Since then, generations of watermen made their living harvesting crabs and other resources along the Chesapeake Bay developing the most efficient method to catch crabs resulting in modern crab traps.{{Cn|date=March 2021}}

Since early European settlers in America, crabbing was an important food source to watermen of the Chesapeake and continues to be the source of income for many families. The [[Alaskan king crab]] fishing industry took off in the mid-1800s, and was one of the reasons Alaskans pushed so hard for statehood in 1959. Alaskans wanted to gain control of the area's [[natural resource]]s, such as king crabs.<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of Crabbing |publisher=[[Discovery Channel]] |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/hsw-history-of-crabbing.html |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>

Benjamin F. Lewis invented the crab pot in the 1920s, patented it in 1928, and perfected it ten years later. The crab pot changed the way crabs are harvested on the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. The crab pot is the most common method used to catch and harvest crabs worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |author=Steven Zinski |title=Crabbing for hard shell crabs |publisher=bluecrab.info |url=http://www.bluecrab.info/crabbing/hardcrabs.html |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>

Commercial crabbing is a very tough and dangerous job, so it is very important that commercial crab traps catch as many crabs as possible to be able to turn a profit. Commercial crabbing is heavily regulated by local state laws to ensure that the crabs are not [[Overfishing|over fished]] and that they are given enough time to breed and repopulate.<ref name="CCT">{{cite web|title=Commercial crab traps |publisher=Crab Traps |url=http://www.crabtraps.org/commercial-crab-traps |access-date=November 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005929/http://www.crabtraps.org/commercial-crab-traps |archive-date=April 26, 2012 }}</ref>

After [[World War II]], Japanese crab vessels were competition for Alaskan king crab fishermen in the [[Bering Sea]]. Japanese crab vessels would crowd around cod boats, where king crabs devoured the fish waste. Ed Shields, a king crab fisherman was aboard a schooner at this time and recalls the Japanese encroaching on the [[Bristol Bay]] fishing area. Ed Shields says that his father sent a telegram to [[Seattle]], ordering one dozen high-powered rifles for each vessel and one case of ammunition each.<ref name="YouTube">{{cite video |title=Pots of Gold – Alaska King Crab Fishing History |publisher=[[YouTube]] |time=3:35 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lHCJ0qZjtg&feature=player_embedded |access-date=November 8, 2011}}</ref>

The [[The Derelict Crab Trap Program|Derelict Crab Trap Removal Program]] was created by the [[Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries|Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission]] in 2004. This was created to remove derelict crab traps from state-owned lakes and river-beds and to reduce the potential impact from these traps.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/fishing/derelict-crab-trap-removal|title=Derelict Crab Trap Removal {{!}} Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries|website=www.wlf.louisiana.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref> There are also similar programs in other states. They are similar to the program in Louisiana where the traps are removed during a 30-day period. There are programs all over the Gulf Coast, including areas like Texas and Florida. These programs have also been successful with the help of volunteers working together, and over 30,000 derelict traps have been removed in Texas alone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/water/conservation/Crab_trap/Crab_trap.phtml|title=TPWD|website=tpwd.texas.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref>

[[File:Crab pot pulling, just north of Garibaldi, Oregon.webm|thumb|upright|Pulling a crab pot{{which?|date=June 2023}} in the Pacific just north of [[Garibaldi, Oregon]]]]

===Maryland===

The Maryland crab pot is an enclosed framework of wire with four openings. These openings are constructed so that when the crabs enter to eat the [[Bait (luring substance)|bait]], they cannot escape, and instead become immediately trapped. Once the crab becomes trapped and cannot leave the same way they entered, they float upward and go through the openings of the inner wire portion, which permanently traps the crab.<ref name="Poppke">{{cite book |author=William Randolph Poppke |year=1977 |title=How to Catch a Crab |location=Briarcliff Manor, NY |publisher=Stein & Day |pages=75–76, 85}}</ref>

===West Coast===

[[File:Crab Pot Cages on Pier (51813830392).jpg|thumb|Stacks of West Coast style traps in [[Port Gardner Bay]], Washington]]

West Coast crab pots, which are primarily used for catching [[Dungeness crab]]s, vary slightly from the Maryland style crab pot. When the crabs enter either of the two funnel-type openings in search of bait, they are unable to exit through these funnel openings and become entrapped in the pot.<ref name="Poppke"/>

===Ring crab traps===

Ring crab traps are very popular along the [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]] Coast. They are primarily used in [[River mouth|river mouths]] and protected bays, but it is possible to use crab rings off the open shoreline. A crab ring is a simple piece of equipment that contains two wire rings that form the top and bottom of a collapsible basket. The lower ring is smaller than the upper ring and connected with a strong netting that forms the sides. Heavy [[chicken wire]], cotton webbing or other suitable materials are used for the bottom.<ref name="Charlie White 1998 16">{{cite book |author=Charlie White |year=1998 |title=How to Catch Crabs: a Pacific Coast Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/howtocatchcrabs00char |url-access=registration |edition=2nd |location=Surrey, British Columbia |publisher=Heritage House |page=[https://archive.org/details/howtocatchcrabs00char/page/16 16]}}</ref>

After the bait is tied securely to the bottom of the basket, the lower basket sinks to the bay bottom where the sides collapse and the top and bottom rings lie together, leaving only a flat platform of tempting bait that the crab can easily reach. After the ring has been left on the bottom, the crabber raises the ring rapidly by pulling up with a rope, which prevents the crabs from escaping while the basket is pulled to the boat.<ref name="Charlie White 1998 16"/> While ring traps may allow crabs to escape more easily, their advantage is that they remain on the bottom for much shorter periods, typically a maximum of 20 minutes or so, versus the 30-45 minutes required for a crab pottowork effectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to crab |url=https://myodfw.com/articles/how-crab |website=myodfw.com |publisher=Oregon Dept of Fish & Wlidlife}}</ref>

===Pyramids===

Pyramid crab traps are flat when lying on the bottom of the seafloor, but when raised to the surface, they form the shape of a [[pyramid]]. This trap is similar to the ring crab trap because there are no walls or cage that prevents the crabs from escaping before pulling it to the surface. The benefits of the pyramid crab trap over the ring crab trap is that the pyramid crab trap is slightly sturdier and can be used in waters with stronger currents.{{Cn|date=March 2021}}

===Boxes===

Box crab traps are made from a strong non-collapsible [[wire]]. The main advantages of this crab trap are that once the crab enters searching for the bait it cannot escape, guaranteeing a catch when the crab enters. Along with this comes the added bonus of not having to regularly check the trap. A downside of this trap is storing and transporting it since it does not collapse.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crab traps |publisher=Crab Traps |url=http://www.crabtraps.org/ |access-date=November 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126113835/http://www.crabtraps.org/ |archive-date=November 26, 2011 }}</ref>

===Trot lines===

Trot line crab fishing was used exclusively by commercial crabbers from 1870 to 1929, but this method has since been almost entirely replaced by the use of crab pots and crab traps. A trotline is a baited, hook-less, long line that is usually anchored on the bottom and attached to anchored buoys. This [[trotline]] is baited and after some time, the fisherman pulls the trotline up with crabs hopefully biting on the bait.<ref name="Poppke"/>

[[File:Crab Trap Rodeo at LUMCON 03.17.2012 105.jpg|thumb|Pile of abandoned crab traps collected by volunteers as part of [[the Derelict Crab Trap Program]] in Louisiana]]

A crab trap which becomes lost or abandoned (usually by accidental detachment of the float) becomes an ongoing environmental hazard. Crabs will continue to enter this [[ghost net|ghost trap]] to eat the bait, become trapped, and starve to death, attracting more crabs and other bottom-dwelling sea life; a single trap may kill dozens of crabs in this manner. For this reason, crab traps in many jurisdictions are required to have a "rot-out panel", a wooden panel the size of the largest entrance into the trap. This panel will disintegrate with a few weeks' exposure to seawater, opening the trap and allowing any crabs inside to escape. Other pots use biodegradable twine, that disintegrates within less than a week.<ref>{{cite web |title=Florida Stone Crab Information |url=http://www.stonecrabflorida.com/how-to-catch-your-own-stone-crab.html |access-date=June 4, 2013}}</ref>

Whales become entangled in crabbing gear. They get entangled in the vertical lines between crab traps on the ocean floor and the surface buoys. For example, as of 2014 there was an increasing number of entanglements off the coasts of the United States. Management measures have been implemented by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.<ref>{{cite web |title= Management Measures Implemented to Reduce Large Whale Entanglements in Commercial Trap/Pot and Gillnet Fishing Gear |url=http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2014/25_new_whale_protection_measures.html |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref>

[[Category:Crabs and humans]]