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Abstract
Derelict fishing gear is a source of mortality for target and non-target marine species.
A program employing commercial watermen to remove marine debris provided a novel opportunity
to collect extensive spatially-explicit information for four consecutive winters (2008-2012)
on the type, distribution, and abundance of derelict fishing gear and bycatch in Virginia
waters of Chesapeake Bay. The most abundant form of derelict gear recovered was blue
crab pots with almost 32,000 recovered. Derelict pots were widely distributed, but
with notable hotspot areas, capturing 40 species and over 31,000 marine organisms.
The target species, blue crab, experienced the highest mortality from lost pots with
an estimated 900,000 animals killed each year, a potential annual economic loss to
the fishery of $300,000. Important fishery species were captured and killed in derelict
pots including Atlantic croaker and black sea bass. While some causes of gear loss
are unavoidable, others can be managed to minimize loss.