"Fake" Crab Pots?

I've noticed during our trip south for the winter that a number of areas we tend to anchor in have gotten a crab pot disease. This occurs where the anchorages are in areas with waterfront residences. There is suddenly a proliferation of crab pots making anchoring impossible. This is particularly prevalent in Florida.

Can it possibly be that crabs have become the major food source or are home owners up to a dastardly trick? What do y'all think?

Howard

Greetings,
Mr. hm. Interesting. Also interesting would be to contact the local fish and game people to see if crab was in season. If not in season I expect you could anchor in the midst of the "pots" could you not?

Pull one. If you get shot we'll know it was a real trap. If you suddenly hear really loud obnoxious music aimed at you from shore, it's the home owner.

HopCar,
That's what I call a definitive test. Thanks, can't wait to try it.

Howard, how much of a problem is it? I know of one guy on Miami Beach who is just nuts. He hates cruisers so much that he bought several cheap plastic boats and anchored them off his back yard. Now instead of pretty real boats he looks at crappy plastic toys. Unfortunately all it takes is one obnoxious cruiser to piss off a home owner and make it difficult for everyone else.

Well, as an example, I'm anchored tonight in the Indian River. I first entered the Banana River to anchor in one of my favorite spots off Dragon Point. Virtually the entire shoreline was infested with crab pots real or fake I don't know. Decided to continue up the river past the Mathers Bridge only to find the same conditions.

As the sun began to set I left the Banana River and anchored outside its mouth in the Indian River where we suffered the wakes of sport fish boats returning home in one hell of a rush until dark. Now it's peaceful and I'll beat it out of here tomorrow to our destination in Stuart FL.

We had anchored in the BR many times before the crab infestation, most recently last spring. Gotta love the creativity of the home owners if what I suspect is true.

It is crab and lobster season in Florida. I don't know what they trap in the BR but down here it is stone crabs and spiny lobster.

Perhaps they are real after all. I hope so.

Perhaps, but I wouldn't put it past a clever home owner to try it.

During season it can get covered here in Florida and now days we have so many recreational trappers

the ones near houses normally are recreational and are suppose to have " R " on them

We live on the water and we have had the same thing happen. A commercial crab boat set crab pots right behind our dock. We could not get out without getting fouled in them. I waited till he came back to check the traps and then politely asked him to move them so we could get out and he replied he would. The next week they were back. I waited again till he checked them and told him that I will need to back out and if I get fouled he would be responsible. I asked him to just move them further out so we could have easy access. He removed them again and they never came back.

HopCar said:

I know of one guy on Miami Beach who is just nuts. He hates cruisers so much that he bought several cheap plastic boats and anchored them off his back yard. Now instead of pretty real boats he looks at crappy plastic toys.

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I think this is the place Parks is referring to. We anchored 2 nights nearby on our way north this summer. I counted 25 little sailing dinghys anchored in front of his house. Some have solar lights as I recall. It is known as Sunset Lake Anchorage and is listed on Active Captain under that name.

One of the locals mentioned that this home owner pays someone to move all those dinghy’s once every 6 months to comply with some sort of local anchoring regulation.

On our trip from Tampa to the Chesapeake this summer we found the worse crab trap problems were in Albemarle Sound. It was a bit choppy when we entered the sound so I decided to get the boat up on plane for a better ride. I was watching closely and avoiding many crab pots, some painted black and almost impossible to see. But my diligent efforts didn't pay off and I saw us running right over one. I immediately went to idle neutral but couldn't turn fast enough to avoid it. I shut both engines down and went back to the swim platform to see if I could find it. Finding nothing for 3 minutes or so I started back up and in idle fwd saw the crab pot float out from under the boat. We dodged the proverbial bullet. We stayed at displacement speed the rest of the way to Elisabeth City.


Another area full of crab pots is on the Chesapeake from Herrington Harbor (Tracys Landing, MD) to the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. We pulled out 3 days later and found some rope around the port shaft.

timjet said:

.............On our trip from Tampa to the Chesapeake this summer we found the worse crap trap problems were in Albemarle Sound. It was a bit choppy when we entered the sound ............

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We noticed the same thing on our cruise - both ways. Crab pots will be set out where the crabs are. There must be a lot of crabs there.

Crab pots (or just the floats tied to cinder blocks could be used by a homeowner to keep boats away but depending on state regulations the owner might have to have a license. Of course if they are fake he wouldn't need a license as long as nobody saw him set them out.

There is a "fleet" of derelict boats just downriver from my marina. One is upside down and one is stuck in the marsh. None have proper anchor lights or anchor balls. One is a tin shack on floats. No government agency will move them so I can understand why a property owner would want to keep such boats away from his property. Nice boats that stay a night or two are scenery. Boats left permanently are an eyesore. People living on a boat at anchor are most likely dumping sewage and garbage in the water at night.

I can understand both sides of the issue.

Roger H sounds like you got away easy from other stories I have heard

Tim jet thanks for the picture after reading the above I really wanted to see this

this world has all types

So, with all the crab pots, why haven't crabs been declared an endangered specie? I guess they reproduce too fast. With the price of crab meat being what it is and the employment situation being what it is, it's not surprising the number of crab pots is increasing.

As in life a few AH will make life difficult for the responsible. Here at my Marina, Harbortown, at Fort Pierce, trere is an excellent anchorage just outside the basin. The manager said people, he suspects derilect cruisers, steals even light bulbs, soap and everything not tied down.
Btw, excellent cafe, good drinks, fuel, pump out and the marina is full, full, full mostly by returning customers. Their $12 prime rib sandwich is to die for. They were at 80% in the off season. They have some transient slips though.. Coming through, ask for Hobart, stop in say hi. If they look puzzeled ask for Sassy the apricot poodle.

Stone crabs almost were completely depleted now both commercial and recreational only take one claw and put the crab back to grow another

I can see why someone might put out bouys to keep people away.

On my lake people will cruise by at 3 knots in their pontoon boats within almost touching distance of my dock.

A string of well placed bouys will keep them at least a little ways away

Donsan said:

So, with all the crab pots, why haven't crabs been declared an endangered specie? I guess they reproduce too fast. With the price of crab meat being what it is and the employment situation being what it is, it's not surprising the number of crab pots is increasing.

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Mmm crabs!

siestakey said:

Stone crabs almost were completely depleted now both commercial and recreational only take one claw and put the crab back to grow another

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Yeah in England they take the right claw, here the left. That way they can hitch hike in their home country.

Mule Good one

Are there marking requirements for trap buoys in FL and other parts? There are in MA. To trap you need to have a license, properly marked floats, and properly marked traps.

twistedtree said:

Are there marking requirements for trap buoys in FL and other parts? There are in MA. To trap you need to have a license, properly marked floats, and properly marked traps.

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Off the top of my head, in SC, waterfront property owner is allowed two pots within a certain distance of his dock. I don't recall if they have to be marked but as I posted above, a property owner could easily plant "fake" traps and put just any random markings on them.

twistedtree said:

Are there marking requirements for trap buoys in FL and other parts? There are in MA. To trap you need to have a license, properly marked floats, and properly marked traps.

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In Texas recreational crabbing (6 pots) is part of your fishing license. Commercial is unlimited number of pots and floats have to be only 6 x 6 x 6. Not easy to see in any chop. The barges do a great job of keeping the waterways clear but the bayou's are pretty well packed. Only once have I had to move on to find another anchorage though so it's not that bad.

I think Florida is still 5 per person but not sure of that

twistedtree said:

Are there marking requirements for trap buoys in FL and other parts? There are in MA. To trap you need to have a license, properly marked floats, and properly marked traps.

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I don't know the answer but I know some property owners along the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard county make a hobby of stringing up trap pot buoys that float in to their properties after the ropes have rotted or a boat has run over the line. Normally each trapper would have a unique painting arrangement to identify their traps when collecting the crab claws. I can tell you (real) crab pots are not a favorite of property owners either and some have been known to go out at night and cut the buoys. I never did that on my property but I have been known to make threatening gestures from the shore that advised the crabber to get away from my land. They know they can't police their pots and they have money in each pot.

I am well aware of the anchorage around the Mather Bridge on the Banana River as I used to keep my old boat there. Every winter, there was a huge and growing crowd of boats anchored on both sides of the bridge. Just south of the 520 causeway in Cocoa is another favorite anchoring spot. Every year, I've noticed more and more boats there.

So, why don't more boaters add line cutters their shafts?

Donson

good point on the line cutters

Recreational Stone Crabbing

Commercial Regulations for Stone Crab

I was told years ago by a FWC officer as I was pulling rope off my prop ( not this boat)
"If the bouoy is not properly marked feel free to cut them )

this was in response to my situation at the time and could not get into my parents dock because of cluttered traps

the only one i cut was the one on my prop

Donsan said:

So, why don't more boaters add line cutters their shafts?

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I first thought this thread was about manufactured seafood products. After reading the thread though I must ask the same question Donsan did.

I have no traps to speak of in my area and am still considering adding line cutters to my shaft at haulout time. "Accidentally" cut the lines of the traps in question and be happy.

I ran five stone crab traps a few years ago. It was fun but it would be cheaper to buy the claws. I lost four of my five traps. Later I found one of them on a day when the water was very clear. It was on the bottom where I had left it, the float was gone.


A friend of mine traps commercially. Despite the regulation requiring it, he doesn't put floats on his traps. The floats just tell people the traps are there to steal. He ties them together with about sixty feet of line running between them. All he has to do is find the first one and then work his way down the line.