The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a non-profit based in Annapolis, Maryland, focused on oyster restoration and supporting sustainable fisheries practices. ORP supports commercial watermen, works with state and local governments, and organizes large-scale derelict fishing gear retrieval events. ORP has a staff of less than 25, with just 5 staff members focusing on derelict gear retrieval – a small but mighty team! ORP and partners have removed over 30,000 pieces of derelict fishing gear since 2012. 

As a project partner for the National TRAP Program, ORP retrieved derelict blue crab traps from the mouth of the Severn and South Rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. This area is highly trafficked by commercial watermen and recreational boaters. Crab traps are lost every year due to storms, severed buoy lines, and gear wear, posing a big navigational risk to boaters. The Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab fishery closes for a short period each year, so ORP organized a “derby style” removal effort with a fleet of 13 vessels and 27 local watermen. In just five days, ORP and the watermen recovered 829 derelict traps, along with more than 100 pieces of other debris such as fishing line, nets, and even a few beach chairs! ORP uses side-scan sonar maps with the local expertise of watermen to identify the derelict gear mapped by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, making retrievals as efficient as possible. 

On retrieval days, the team assembles at the marina bright and early before heading out on the water around 6:30 am. The crew retrieves derelict gear with grappling hooks, which are dropped off the boat while the captain slowly drifts the vessel along the water. A tug on the rope signals that they have hooked a piece of derelict gear. Once the debris is hauled aboard, the crew records the trap type and bycatch to be logged in TRAP’s database. The boats stay out for around 8 hours each day before heading back to the marina in the afternoon. Gear is sorted on shore between two dumpsters: recycling and landfill. The ORP team has been diligent in recycling as much debris as possible – sending 3.82 tons of scrap metal to Anne Arundel County to be recycled and disposing of the remaining 0.9 tons in the landfill. 

ORP shares their hard work to the local Chesapeake Bay community and beyond through social media, blog posts, press releases, and educational outreach events. Through this engagement, ORP hopes others will share their passion for derelict gear recovery and better understand the harmful impacts that marine debris has on aquatic ecosystems, particularly for bycatch species in the Chesapeake Bay.