Marine Lecture Series on Derelict Fishing Gear

There are literally thousands of tons of lost or abandoned fishing nets and crab and shrimp traps in this region’s marine waters. Although lost, this gear continues to catch and wastefully kill untold thousands of marine fish, birds, and mammals. On Tuesday, December 14, Tom Cowan, Director of the Northwest Straits Commission, will give a presentation on the impacts of this gear and what is being done to remove it from our waters. This is the third lecture in Orcas Island’s highly successful marine science lecture series. It will begin at 7:00pm at the Camp Orkila Marine-Salmon Center and is free to the public.

Several years ago, the Northwest Straits Commission developed a project to begin removing derelict fishing gear. This is the State’s first comprehensive effort to rid these harmful nets and traps from our waters, and it has been so successful that efforts are underway to duplicate the program in other states such as California. Locally, a huge purse seine net was removed near Stuart Island, and 125 gill nets were recently removed near Lopez Island. Approximately three feet of bones from diving birds were found under an abandoned net retrieved from the south end of Lopez.

Shuttle service from the parking lot at Camp Orkila to the Marine-Salmon Center is available before and after each lecture. YMCA Camp Orkila with help from the Orcas Island Key Club will provide a children’s program for this lecture suited for children who are pre-school through elementary ages.

The 2004-2005 Marine Science Lecture Series is presented by program partners the SeaDoc Society, YMCA Camp Orkila, and the San Juan Nature Institute. The series is being sponsored by Islanders’ Bank, Barbara Brown, Alan and Lisbeth Fritzberg, Bob Lundeen, Dean and Audrey Stupke, and co-sponsored by Washington Federal Savings and Jim and Kathy Youngren.

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