"This year marks 20th annual Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal program" By Nicole Pilson Coastal & Marine Resources Texas A&M AgriLife Matagorda County

   Matagorda County If you’re a crabber or enjoying setting out some crab traps (me included!), it will soon be time to pick those traps up. 
   The 2022 closure will happen starting at 8 a.m. Feb. 18 until noon Feb. 27. 
   This year marks the 20th annual Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program. 
   For 10 days, the waters are closed to crabbing using wire mesh traps and during this time derelict traps are removed from bays, shorelines, and marshes along Texas. 
   Abandoned crab traps can pose threats to crab and fish populations, as well making our waters looked littered and creating more obstacles for boaters to watch out for. 
   Traps that have been forgotten about or taken away by waves and storms will still continue to fish. 
   Ghost fishing entraps crabs and fish and since they are not being tended to; these animals (if they are too large to escape) will die due to cannibalism or lack of food. 
   In 2021, over 1,200 traps were collected by volunteers during the closure in the Mid-Coast area and found in these traps were 567 blue crabs, 707 stone crabs, and 328 fish (alive animals were released and dead ones were removed). 
   To date, over 40,000 derelict traps have been collected through this program which, in turn, has saved crabs that found themselves in a trap with no intention of being harvested. 
   Volunteers are legally allowed to remove traps found in the water or tied to docks during the 10-day closure - so be sure to pick yours up! 
   Banners will be placed at the following designated sites: Matagorda Harbor, Railroad Park in Palacios, and the West Mooring ramp in Sargent - these will be not be facilitated, so leaving traps there to be collected later will be fined. Make sure to contact your local TPWD office for more information or email crabtrap@tpwd.texas.gov. 
   The Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program is supported by the Coastal Conservation Association Texas (CCA Texas), Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CBBEP), San Antonio Bay Partnership (SABP), USFWS, Matagorda Bay Foundation, Lavaca Bay Foundation, Texas Sea Grant, NOAA, Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Harte Research Institute, and many other organizations as well as companies who volunteer their time.