Daniel Cardenas
North American Journal of Fisheries Management
Volume 33, Issue 2, 2013
The dungeness crab fishery is an already struggling fishery in Southeast Alaska. Ghost fishing is derelict fishing gear that continues to fish, it can have substantial effect on commercial fisheries such as crabbing in Southeast. How do these gears start ghost fishing? There are biotic and abiotic factors, humans that due to gear conflicts, will be hauled to deep water, or the lines will be cut. Abiotic factors that can result in lost gear are, storms, sedimentation and ice cover. Ghost gear that traps these crabs can lead to increase predation by species such as octopus, increased cannibalism, and starvation. Ghost fishing in the southeast dungeness crab fishing is estimated to only affect 3% of the commercial crab fishery annually. This paper challenges the current escape mechanisms and presents alternatives.
Dungeness Crab Pots I stacked this summer.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02755947.2013.763875
