Wallisville Park staff cleans up abandoned crab traps

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Each year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division (TPWD) closes crab fishing with wire mesh crab traps for ten days to give volunteers the opportunity to round up lost and abandoned traps. The closure is traditionally in late February or early March. Unattended traps “ghost fish” and kill blue crabs and other species unnecessarily and can also create a navigation hazard for boaters.
According to a press release from TPWD, since the “Crab Trap Roundup” began 22 years ago, volunteers have removed 42,500 derelict traps, saving an estimated 700,000 blue crabs, a valuable natural resource.
Each year at the Wallisville Lake Project, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Galveston District (SWG) personnel join the Crab Trap Roundup, while they patrol.

Eric Angle, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Galveston District (SWG), Natural Resources Management Specialist, right, holds a rope to control the air boat as Obed Contreras Sosa, SWG heavy equipment operator, secures the air boat to a trailer after Crab Trap roundup 2024 at the Wallisville Lake Project, Feb. 22, 2024. Each year, the State of Texas declares a 10-day window where no crab traps are legally allowed to remain in the water. This gives community members the opportunity to remove lost or abandoned crab traps. This year’s roundup was scheduled from Feb. 16-26.

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Tags: safety, environmental stewardship, water management, crab trap round up

Photo by: Luke Waack | VIRIN: 240222-A-XJ740-1000.JPG

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