The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (CCE) founded their marine program in 1985 to support the Long Island Sound fishing industry, working hand-in-hand with local fishermen to address pressing issues in the marine environment. This collaboration is especially evident in their trap recovery work, which began in response to a massive collapse of the lobster population in Long Island Sound. Before 1999, the Sound supported a thriving lobster industry. But by 2004, catastrophic die-offs had all but erased it. Over the years, thousands of traps had been abandoned in the water. By the mid-2000s, the few remaining commercial fishermen reported alarming numbers of derelict traps on the seafloor. In response, CCE launched their first derelict lobster trap removal program in 2010, and over its 15 years has removed over 21,000 traps from the New York side of the Sound. 

As a project partner of the National TRAP Program, CCE is focusing its efforts on derelict American lobster traps in Long Island Sound, with a goal of conducting 40 retrieval trips between September 2025 and January 2026. Most of the traps they recover are no longer usable as many traps are weighed down with bricks or slate, buried in mud, and still ghost fishing! Common bycatch includes whelk, spider crabs, lobsters, and black sea bass, with 20–30% of traps still capturing marine life upon retrieval. Since beginning work with the TRAP Program, the CCE team and their Connecticut partners have conducted eight trips and pulled up more than 150 traps.

For the CCE team, each trip is executed by a rotating team of 8 to 9 people, with 2 to 3 crew members onboard per outing. They begin at sunrise, loading survival suits and a life raft, GPS, and grapple gear before heading out. To locate and retrieve traps, the team uses a long-line grapple system: 500 feet of chain and rope attached to a tow sled, slowly dragged along the seafloor. While they’ve recently added side-scan sonar to help locate derelict gear, much of their success still comes from knowledge passed down by local fishermen who know exactly where traps are likely to be lost.  Once traps are brought up, a team member records data including tag numbers, bycatch, and whether the trap was buried in mud or silt. Every trap they recover is held for 30 days, giving the original owner a chance to claim it. If the traps go unclaimed, they are sent to a local metal recycler. 

Engaging the community is critical to the success of this effort. CCE continues to work closely with commercial fishers and hopes to recruit more, but with the industry fading, attracting new participants and securing funding is becoming increasingly difficult. Onshore, CCE posts signage to inform the public about the work. Despite the challenges they’ve encountered, the benefits from CCE’s work are clear: supplemental income for fishermen, a healthier ecosystem, and growing awareness for the impacts of marine debris on the Long Island Sound.