sbck
By the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
On Saturday, April 22, twenty-three volunteers with Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and members of the commercial fishing community worked together to remove more than thirty lobster traps that had washed ashore.
This is the third year of shoreline cleanup collaborations for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara. Last year the organizations partnered to clear sixty traps from Black Rock Beach and in 2021, they removed forty traps from Ellwood Beach.
During the 2023 lobster season, a series of storms with unusually heavy swells dislodged many traps set by fishermen and sent them adrift. When derelict traps such as these are carried by currents, they can entangle marine organisms, release microplastics, and pose safety hazards to vessels. When they wash up on shore as debris, they can also be dangerous to beachgoers and wildlife.
Approximately 6,500 traps are reported lost off the California coast each fishing season, according to The California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Without regular cleanups, dozens of traps can accumulate on certain beaches and pile up over time.
In recent months, volunteers with Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade community cleanup program helped the organization locate lost traps. Through this community effort, Channelkeeper discovered a high concentration of traps that had accumulated between Leadbetter Point and Mesa Lane. As the 2023 lobster season approached its end-date in March, Channelkeeper staff began planning with local fishermen to clear derelict traps from this mile-and-a-half stretch of beach.
During Saturday’s cleanup, volunteers pulled the heavy, metal-framed traps from the rocks along the shore and carried them to collection points on the beach. The traps were clipped onto a buoyed rope and winched through the surf to the Bella B, a commercial fishing vessel owned by fisherman, Chris Voss.
Nick Tharp from First Light Fishing Co. and Henry Hepp ferried the buoy line back and forth from boat to shore by kayak and paddle board. Kim Selkoe, Executive Director of Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, and colleagues Ava Schulenberg and Chris Voss loaded the traps onboard the Bella B and transported them to Santa Barbara Harbor for proper disposal.
“We are grateful for a very positive and productive partnership with Channelkeeper on our annual spring beach clean ups,” said Kim Selkoe, “and we’re grateful that the fishing community has been able to come together to help one another relocate lost gear and make a coordinated cleanup effort following this unprecedented stormy season. We will continue to do more cleanup events as any more traps appear, both along the coast and at the islands.”
“We are proud to partner with local fishermen to remove the traps that washed ashore,” said Channelkeeper’s Science and Program Manager Molly Troup. “We also appreciate the outstanding volunteer effort. Some traps are buried in the sand, and it takes significant work to dig them out. By working together, we were able to remove approximately 800 pounds of fishing gear that could have remained on the beach for years.”
Bigger question – we have the hassle, but out of town (and U.S.) buyers have our lobster. If we can’t afford local lobster, perhaps the fishery should be charged locally for the hassles they create. We saw a SB Harbor boat laying traps in the Marine Protected Area off Ellwood. The Coast Guard was there in about 10 minutes and the traps were recovered. This high priced lobster is like the gold rush, but unfortunately locals don’t get to enjoy the product due to the outrageous prices. We just get a depleted fishery and lobster traps. On every local beach.
Thank you for the good info, I was about to volunteer to help but instead I will be writing to ask this industry clean up after itself or PAY for the cleanup.
12 Million Dollars??!!
California Commercial Lobster Fishery earns over 12 million dollars annually!!
Why are volunteers cleaning our beaches of
derelict California Commercial Lobster Gear??
Why is only 1 of the more than 25 local Commercial Lobster Fishermen helping the volunteers??
Instead of relying on volunteers breaking their backs for a 12 million dollar for-profit commercial industry, consider being a voice for change, let state lawmakers know what you
think about derelict California Commercial Lobster Gear littering our beaches and ocean!
California Department of Fish & Wildlife:
Wildlife.ca.gov/Contact
Here you can email the Wildlife director and file a formal complaint.
Santa Barbara State Representatives:
Gregg Hart – 805-564-1649
101 West Anapamu Street, SB CA 93101
Monique Limón-805-965-0862
222 East Carrillo Suite 309, SB CA 93101
2019, just one lobster season, California Commercial Lobster Fishery reported over 6,500 Commercial Lobster Traps were lost at sea, 6,500!! This happens year after year.
Its not just our beaches, ask any SCUBA diver, they will tell you, they often encounter derelict Commercial Lobster Gear littering our underwater seascape. They persist for years, indiscriminately ghost trapping sea creatures.
THOUSANDS (1000s) of Commercial Lobster Traps currently litter the remote beaches of our Channel Islands National Park, this is all preventable or at least, can be cleaned up be the California Commercial Lobster Fishery!!
Please be a voice for change!
But also, THANK YOU Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and volunteers and Chris Voss.
(Note: First Light Fishing Co. does not harvest or sell lobster to my knowledge.)
Thank you Harbor Seal for your thoughtful post and information. As a regular, lifelong beach user I have often been dismayed by lobster traps littering our coastline and wondered, WTH?…. I had no idea it was this insanely bad.
If the traps are tagged with the fisherman’s ID/info…why are they not levied a fine for the cleanup or retrieval of these derelict traps? This is nuts.
Good question, I suspect because politicians rely on the ignorance of the people? The organized fishery groups are a very vocal political force in California… politicians don’t want to lose that support. Vocal enough that when California changed engine emission requirements, a rider was added to the bill for the State to pay for re-engining most commercial marine vessels in California and boat engines aren’t cheap!
On several occasions I’ve observed someone removing the tags from the traps on the beach, one person I confronted was a commercial lobsterman. I would expect this to be more widespread if fines were enacted. Then would come the childish game of “you can’t prove it’s mine.”
Likely the best solution would be to have the commercial fishery collect fee from each commercial fishing permit holder to pay for a trap recovery team- trap insurance so to speak.
Thank you Channelkeeper for cleaning the commercial fishing trash from the Ocean.
The amount of litter the fishermen “accidentally” and intentionally abandon on our beaches is shameful. For years I carried my trusty Swiss Army knife with me on beach walks, and would cut the plastic lines off lobster traps found littering the shore, tossing lines into the trash. At least that helped keep a bit more plastic out of our ocean. Sometimes I could get the plastic bait boxes out as well, to dispose of in trash bins. Over the years, I have “repurposed” about a dozen buoys by selling them on Craigslist. I still have another 6 or 7 buoys in my yard. Lobster fishermen must be held accountable for their traps and the disposal thereof.
Hello there!
This is Nick Tharp with the F/V First Light and First Light Fish Co. I’m a local commercial fisherman out of Santa Barbara and target groundfish, crab and lobster.
If anyone is interested in discussing this topic, please feel free to contact me directly. Let’s talk and have a real conversation. Not this slew of hate and misinformation. I’ll meet you for coffee or you can come to our house for dinner. Please, come sit at my table and break bread with us.
Talk soon. Cheers!
Nick Tharp
F/V First Light
805-801-5750
Thanks Nick (FLFC), I’ve now acquired a new wallpaper/desktop:
“Things we see at sea # 732 – Bioluminescent plankton”
, but more-so “Reaching out”!
Nick, this is not a “slew of hate and misinformation”; what I’ve posted on the subject is FACT.
People simply want the California Commercial Lobster Industry to act like adults and clean up after themselves; that’s not “hate,” that’s requesting accountability.
We had a big storm events in early January, one Commercial Lobsterman is on the news saying he lost nearly all of this 300 traps, why was it by late March/April that VOLUNTEERS had to finally take action to clean a VERY small portion of our local coastline of a significant number of traps? A responsible industry, which respects our environment and the community, would have taken action on their own in JANUARY: again please act like adults!
I appreciate you reaching out to the community, sounds lovely, but it also sounds like you want to differ taking action. I might have taken you up on it, but I’ve worked part time as a deckhand in the local commercial fishing industry for over a decade, I know what I’m talking about, I know the inside attitude of the fishery and I’ll glean more value from continuing casual conversations and working on the water.
Hello Harbor Seal! You have my contact info. I’ll be waiting for your call.
Cheers!
Nick
Nick, I don’t see any hate here.
I really appreciate and respect your stepping up and putting yourself out here; your effort to communicate. Best to you & FLFC.
To Harbor Seal
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And spreading deliberate misinformation is libelous.
You bring up 12 million dollars that the fleet makes annually. There are 150 participants, meaning average gross income is $80,000. Subtract 40% operating expenses, and you’re at $48,000. Tough to live in So Cal on that.
Mother Nature is a considerable force. The weather events of Jan 9 were catastrophic, perhaps a ten year event.
Beach cleanup programs have historically been collaboratively organized by our local CFSB association and willing parties.
Fishermen do participate in numbers and end up doing the heavy lifting, while other parties generally pose for photos.
All traps a legally required to have destruct devices, which work well, to insure any lost traps will not fish for long.
Lobster traps and ropes are not at risk for whale entanglement, as the depth range that is fished do not coincide with whale travel zones. Ropes that end up on the
beach are benign, yet still require cleanup.
At times, cleanup efforts must be delayed, due to storm and safety concerns. During those times, fishermen are busy, moving traps to mitigate any further loss.
No fisherman ever wants to lose a trap. It represents an individual traps cost of $200 or more, and a loss of potential income from that trap.
The CDFW has determined the CA spiny lobster fishery to be sustainable.
Is there room for improvement?
Well, of course. We’re working on that. Just as there is room for improvement in your presentation to be more accurate and speak the truth.
I’m glad to see it’s all getting cleaned up by the concerned parties.