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Pot Patrol; fostering education for sustainable crabbing in Puget Sound

Ari Marshall

Long Island University Global College

 GAPC 335: Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Cross- Cultural Collaboration

Nigel Hayes

April 5, 2023
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Introduction 

Ghost crab pots haunt our marine ecosystems long after they’ve been lost by owners or

abandoned, silently trapping and killing marine life as they sit on the ocean floor. The issue of

derelict fishing gear, particularly ghost crab pots, is a significant environmental problem in all

fishing and crabbing communities, especially in beautiful Puget Sound, Washington. According

to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), over 12,000 crab ports are lost

annually in Puget sound and 12-15% of Dungeness crab harvest in Puget sound is lost due to

ghost fishing by derelict crab pots (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, n.d, para. 8).

The percentage of lost Dungeness crab harvest is high because as abandoned baited crab pots sit

at the bottom of the ocean they attract more and more crabs and scavengers, for years, until the

pot becomes too full of dead marine life to entangle anymore (Kaimyn, 2014, para. 1). Even

worse, crab pots that land in crucial habitats like the eelgrass beds that line some of Puget

Sound's shorelines can dig into the seafloor and carve out cavities. This process destroys critical

habitat for young fish and invertebrates to mature which has a cascading effect on all trophic

levels and impacts the entire marine ecosystem. (Kaimyn, 2014, para. 1). Scientists estimate that

from a single abandoned crab pot on the seafloor up to 30 square feet around it can be adversely

affected (Kaimyn, 2014, para. 1). Along with the crab pot itself,  Dungeness crabs often live in

water depths of about 150 feet or less, and crabbers commonly use rope with markings ranging

from 75 to 125 feet in length (Moravec, 2018, para. 2). This means that when crab pots are lost at

sea the rope goes with them and can entangle any amount of marine creatures until it is

ultimately found and removed from the ocean. 

There are numerous reasons that contribute to lost crab pots in Puget Sound, Washington

State. Lack of experience and understanding of weather patterns, tide events, and navigation can
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lead inexperienced crabbers to lose their pots, while even experienced crabbers can experience

loss due to unexpected currents and storms. Additionally, all crab pots are at risk of being struck

by boats or lost due to human negligence, such as improper rope tying or forgetting to retrieve

the pot (Northwest Straits Foundation, 2021, para. 2). Efforts to remove derelict crab pots from 

Puget Sound have been ongoing for years. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in

partnership with local organizations such as the Northwest Straits Foundation have implemented

comprehensive programs that developed removal protocols, a database of collected derelict gear,

and an online system to record reports of derelict gear to remove ghost fishing and crabbing gear

and prevent the creation of new ones (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, n.d, para. 3).

Since 2002, the program has removed over 5,900 pieces of discarded fishing gear but in

comparison to the estimated 12,000 crab pots alone annually lost in Puget sound the program is

not large enough to solve the magnitude of the problem at hand (Washington Department of Fish

and Wildlife, n.d, para. 3). 

Derelict crab pots pose a significant problem in Puget Sound, and my social enterprise,

Pot Patrol, aims to address the issue by answering the question: How can average community

fishermen contribute to the cleanup of abandoned crab pots in the waters surrounding South

Whidbey Island, Washington (Saratoga Passage, Admiralty Inlet, Puget sound, and Possession

Sound)? Pot Patrol understands the lack of knowledge about local tides and weather is one of the

major contributors to lost crab pots, and Pot Patrol aims to address this by partnering with local

stores that sell fishing and crabbing licenses. Through education grants and partnerships Pot

Patrol’s staff and volunteers will create a short educational video about tides and weather that

license sellers can show to new license purchasers. The enterprise also plans to work on outreach

to local fishermen, coastal communities, and marine conservation organizations to identify and
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collect abandoned crab pots from the ocean. These pots will be assessed to see if they can be

recycled or repurposed into new items. Pot Patrol also plans to provide education and volunteer

opportunities in the form of sorting crab pots for trash, recycling, or repurposing, and marketing

products made out of abandoned crab pots.

Personal Statement

My motivation for creating Pot Patrol is to bridge the gap between citizen science and marine

advocacy groups. It is a fact that law enforcement agencies for the ocean will never receive as

much funding as there are commercial incentives that drive illegal activities at sea. While most

derelict crab pots may be a result of a lack of understanding of Puget Sound rather than

intentional abandonment, it’s also true that the average crabber will usually find it more

convenient to abandon a lost pot and buy a new one for fifty dollars, rather than invest time, fuel,

and effort into tracking down a lost pot by studying tides and currents. Also, growing up in Puget

Sound has given me local insight and awareness of the dialogue that takes place at local and state

government meetings. Thus far Washington State is extremely focused on restoring critical

salmon habitat and protecting the critically endangered Southern resident Orcas. These are

incredibly important issues that have unfortunately have been politicized as republicans and

democrats, environmentalists and economists, fight over the prospect of dam removals,

commercial boating regulations, pesticide and chemical usage control and more. Amongst all this

debate I rarely heard about the issue of the amount of derelict crab pots in Puget Sound. The

primary goal of my enterprise is to bring people together in a united effort to remove derelict

fishing gear, particularly crabbing pots, from the ocean. While not everyone may have a direct

stake in this issue, nearly all residents of Puget Sound understand and value the ocean and its

marine creatures because they bring us joy and provide important ecological services.
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Enterprise Proposal 

●  How can average community fishermen contribute to the cleanup of abandoned crab pots

in the waters surrounding South Whidbey Island, Washington (Saratoga Passage,

Admiralty Inlet, Puget sound, and Possession Sound)

1. In puget sound, there is no educational knowledge required to buy a fishing license, my

organization is going to target this lack of education aspect first by: partnering with local

stores that sell licenses and asking them to display a short five minute video about the

tides and weather to new license purchasers. Lack of knowledge about local tides and

weather is a huge contributor to lost crab pots (Mynott, 2016, para. 2). The issue of lost

crab pots is one that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has taken attention

to. As their top priority is removing lost crab pots from the marine environment, they are

concerned that if punishment is enforced people will not come forward to admit they

have lost crabbing gear “Derelict fishing gear removal project”, n.d, para. 6). It is

required when crabbing to have a buoy attached to your crab pot with your name and

address visible but people often use sharpie which wears off and/or don’t bother to follow

this rule as there is no enforcement. As Pot Patrol expands as a successful social

enterprise and satellite technology improves, we hope to reach the point where we can

fund satellite tracking for new crabbers until they gain adequate knowledge and insight

into crabbing in Puget Sound.

2.  Ideally, after an initiative set by my social enterprise we could convince local retailers of

fishing licenses (which is often in combination with crabbing licenses) to create their own

educational videos with details that are specific to the license and surrounding waters

they are selling the permit for people to fish, crab, or clam in, but Pot Patrol’s overview
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educational video would still suffice as basic knowledge to help crabbers lose less gear if

local retailers are not perceptive to this idea.

3.  Next, my organization would work on outreach to local fishermen, coastal communities,

and marine conservation organizations to identify and collect abandoned crab pots from

the ocean.

4. Lost crab pots, ropes, and buoys that Pot Patrol has recovered will be assessed to see if

they can be recycled or if they can be melted down and repurposed into new items.

Although most people partaking in the crab pot clean up will be crabbers and fishermen it

is likely they would trash the gear rather than strip it for parts or find the proper place to

recycle so it will be my social enterprise and its volunteers or employees that will collect

all crab pots and decide what action should be taken from there whether it be reuse,

recycle, or stripped for parts. 

5. At this stage the organization can provide education and volunteer opportunities in the

form of sorting crab pots for trash, recycle, or re purpose, and marketing for the sale of

products made out of abandoned crab pots 

6. Generate revenue: Pot Patrol’s recycled products will be sold through an online store or

in partnership with local retailers, with a portion of the profits going back into the

program to fund continued recovery efforts. Ideally, we could sell refurbished crab pots

back to the hardware stores that played our educational video. Washington State and

many smaller governments in Puget Sound are run by moderate/ liberal governments that

prioritize marine conservations so there is a chance with support from partnerships to

receive governmental grants until Pot Patrol can generate enough revenue another way. 

Legal enterprise structure

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1. Pot Patrol is structured as a benefit corporation. A benefit corporation follows the same

structure as a conventional for-profit corporation with a board of directors, officers, and

shareholders who own company shares. The officers and directors manage the business,

but the shareholders can hold them responsible for their decisions. (Haskins, 2023, para.

4). Pot Patrol will have specific legal documents that state stakeholders must be located

in the Puget Sound region so it can ensure there is no outside hindrance from those not

concerned with the Puget Sound region.

2. Pot Patrol will have a board of directors that oversees the organization's activities and

decision-making. The board members will have experience and expertise in marine

conservation, sustainable business practices, and community engagement. Finding

qualified board members for the social enterprise shouldn’t be challenging, given that the

Puget Sound region is home to a large number of small business owners and retired

entrepreneurs, as well as many marine biologists, divers, and environmental

conservationists who are drawn to the area's natural resources and beauty.

3. Pot Patrol will employ a small number of knowledge staff including welders and

metalworkers but will also rely on volunteers with a past history of marine conservation

or other aspects such as business, education outreach, marketing, crab pot collection,

recycling and repurposing.

4. Partnerships and Collaborations: Pot Patrol will partner with local retailers, fishing and

crabbing organizations, marine conservation groups, and government agencies to

combine resources, share knowledge and expertise, and reach a wider audience. Whidbey

Island Kayaking is a local small business interested in eco-tourism and marine

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conservation and runs frequent kayak tours all around Whidbey Island. A partnership

with them to identify lost crab pots would be extremely beneficial.

5. Pot patrol will generate revenue through the sale of refurbished crab pots and other

marine products, partnerships with retailers and government grants. The profits will be

reinvested in the program to fund continued recovery efforts, education and outreach, and

product development.

Sustainability 

For too long the ocean has been viewed by people as a place with infinite resources. We have

used it to dump plastic, industrial and chemical waste, and sewage with little knowledge or

regard for the long lasting impact this has on all interconnected delicate marine ecosystems 

(White, 2022, para. 1). In the 1960s, scientists from the National Academy of Sciences reported

that there was more than 100 million tons of waste that were in our oceans (White, 2022, para.

1). Fast forward and a peer reviewed journal published in 2014 estimated at a minimum there are

5.25 trillion particles of waste weighing 268,940 tons currently in the ocean (Eriksen, 2014, p.

1). The devastating impact of any sort of human made trash that ends up in the ocean is huge.

The obvious effect is on marine creatures that get entangled in nets, digest trash, and the seabirds

that are negatively affected by oil spills and trash they see as food too but trash in the ocean has

terrible cascading effects on human health as we consume unhealthy marine animals for protein

(Byrce & Hart 2022, para. 8). On a less obvious side, trash in the ocean affects tourism

opportunities and human mental health as well. My enterprise Pot Patrol is directly committed to

sustainability and implementing goals that align with the United Nations Sustainable

Development goal “life below water” and the associated targets.

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Our goal is to increase awareness of crabbing regulations, weather, tides, and currents in

Puget Sound to first try and reduce the amount of lost crab pots. We are also committed to

sustainability with our dedicated team of volunteers and experts that decide first if a crab pot can

be safely removed from the environment without furthering ecosystem loss and then if a crab pot

can be refurbished, sold, and reused or if it needs to be stripped for remaining good parts and the

rest recycled. We utilize our valuable partnerships to marine organizations and community

members to avoid purchasing new equipment that can just be borrowed.

Ethics

Pot Patrol operates by bringing together professionals from different backgrounds, such as

conservation and economics. We recognize we can only be successful by including licensed and

unlicensed crabbers, as well as government bodies responsible for regulating crabbing activities

in the conversation about sustainability. The involvement of community volunteers and experts

creates an opportunity for the government, science, and citizens to come together for the cause of

cleaner oceans, which is something almost every entity and individual wants. Ethical principles,

such as transparency, accountability, and environmental sustainability, are of top importance to

Pot Patrol. By promoting these principles, we build trust with stakeholders, including licensed

and unlicensed fishermen/crabbers and government bodies. We don't want political division, only

a better marine environment. Another way we promote ethics within Pot Patrol is by seeking out

social and environmental justice. We acknowledge that Puget Sound was first home to numerous

Native American tribes. At Pot Patrol, we prioritize involving diverse community volunteers and

marine experts from different cultural backgrounds, including those historically marginalized in

the fishing industry, such as individuals from the native Puget Sound regions. We specifically
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acknowledge all the Native American Tribes of the greater Puget Sound region; the Confederated

Tribes of the Chehalis Nation, Hoh Tribe, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Lower Elwha Klallam

Tribe, Lummi Nation, Makah Nation, Muckleshoot Tribe, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Nooksack

Tribe, Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Puyallup Tribe, Quileute Nation, Quinault Nation, Samish

Nation, Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, Skokomish, Snoqualmie Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Stillaguamish

Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Swinomish Tribal Community, Tulalip Tribes, and Upper Skagit Tribe

(Tribes of the Puget Sound and Salish sea regions. (n.d.). Pot Patrol respects all boundaries of

Native American land and sea ownership and incorporates indigenous ways of knowing and

acting into its enterprise. We require education seminars for Pot Patrol staff, led by Indigenous

leaders in the Puget Sound area, covering cultural, historical, and justice issues that have

impacted their community.

Pot Patrol is also dedicated to including more women in the marine field. Specifically, the

importance of women to the fisheries industry is undeniable and unvalued. It is a traditionally

male dominated industry with little research or representation given to women in the industry

(Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 2022, para. 8,9). Pot Patrol's mission is to provide a pathway

for individuals who do not understand how to sustainably crab, including women, to learn how to

do so. Including women in the conversation is crucial. To further women in this field, Pot Patrol

aims to collaborate with and fund research on women's role in the crabbing industry and the

specific barriers they face. Pot Patrol also actively recruits women for leadership roles within the

organization, including on the board of directors or in other decision-making positions. Here at

Pot Patrol we also provide training and educational opportunities for women to fine tune their

skills and knowledge in marine conservation and related fields, thus providing them with

opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Pot Patrol has a strict non
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discriminatory policy that is heavily enforced within its organization to ensure its members

believe and adhere to principles of equity and equality.

Conclusion

Pot Patrol is founded by marine conservation enthusiast Ari Marshall. Her previous research

projects have centered around sustainable ocean fishing and the multitude of effective ways

different communities and governments can successfully co-manage ocean resources. Ari created

Pot Patrol as a benefit corporation recognizing that marine resources are a highly profitable

industry with economists and environmentalists consistently debating the most effective methods

to govern marine areas and in order for it to be an effective voice in the field it needs to have a

knowledgeable full time paid staff. Pot Patrol’s mission is getting people and entities to put aside

political agendas and focus on marine education, action, and social justice as a way to appeal to a

multitude of different stakeholders and be effective in removing derelict crab pots from Puget

Sound. Pot Patrol is structured as a benefit corporation meaning it has the structure of a

traditional business with a board of directors and shareholders but its sole mission is to increase

marine awareness and social justice in the Puget Sound region. To ensure Puget Sound is the

focus of Pot Patrol, shareholders will be limited to one vote and must be geographically located

in the Puget Sound region. Pot Patrol firmly believes that ocean resources should be equitably

shared and places an emphasis on social justice issues such as local indigenous tribes rights and

women's inclusion in the marine field. Staff members are held to a high standard of respect and

accountability of cultural awareness while addressing marine conservation issues, specifically

when engaging with education initiatives to prevent derelict crab pots from entering in Puget

Sound and during the process of removal of derelict crab pots.

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References 

Alaska Fisheries Science Center. (2022, March 7). Women’s global fisheries participation.

NOAA.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/womens-global-fisheries-participation

Bryce, E., & Hart, M. F. (2022, March 9). How does plastic pollution affect the ocean? China

Dialogue Ocean.

https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/pollution/14200-how-does-plastic-pollution-affect-the-

ocean/

Derelict fishing gear removal project. (n.d.). Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/habitat-recovery/derelict-gear

Eriksen M, Lebreton LCM, Carson HS, Thiel M, Moore CJ, Borerro JC, et al. (2014) Plastic

Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over

250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. PLoS ONE 9(12): e111913.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111913

Haskins, J. (2023, January 13). What is a benefit Corporation? LegalZoom: Start Your Business,

Form Your LLC or INC.

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/what-is-a-benefit-corporation

Kaimyn, O. (2014, October 3). What happens to lost crab pots? Puget Sound: We Love You.

https://pugetsoundweloveyou.com/2014/10/03/what-happens-to-lost-crab-pots/

Moravec, A. (2018, May 29). The ultimate Puget Sound Dungeness crabbing guide. Riptidefish.

https://riptidefish.com/puget-sound-dungeness-crabbing/

Mynott, S. (2016, August 24). To catch more crabs, catch lost crab traps. Nature.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/saltwater-science/to_catch_more_crabs_catch/
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Northwest Straits Foundation. (2021, August 5). Tips and tricks to catch more

crab!NWStraitsFoundation.org | partners in marine conservation.

https://nwstraitsfoundation.org/project/recreational-crabbing-resources/

Tribes of the Puget Sound and Salish sea regions. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Puget Sound |.

https://www.eopugetsound.org/articles/tribes-puget-sound-and-salish-sea-regions

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. (n.d.). Derelict fishing gear removal project.

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/habitat-recovery/derelict-gear

White, E. (2022, June 22). The history of ocean pollution. Ocean Generation.

https://www.oceangeneration.org/blog/the-history-of-ocean-pollution