Drowning in crab traps is an all-too-common fate for diamondback terrapins. Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs), which reduce the size of trap funnels, prevent many larger terrapins from unintentional capture in crab traps when curiosity or bait lure them inside. This summer our partners at Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ found two enclosed crab traps washed up on a Delaware Bay beach, freshly baited and likely recently lost. Eleven terrapins were trapped within. One of the terrapins was already dead and seven were alive and able to be directly released. The remaining three, an adult male and two young but likely mature females, were barely alive in the traps but with the fortune of timing and helpful hands were able to be resuscitated and released to the bay after recovering strength. In this case, BRDs would have prevented both females from entering the trap. Requiring BRDs on all crab traps set in New Jersey would reduce the impacts of unintended bycatch to terrapin populations.
You can read more about this and other topics in our fall newsletter here: https://wetlandsinstitute.org/about-us/newsletters/.
#wetlandsinstitute #stoneharbornj #middletownshipnj #delawarebay #terrapin #BRD #conservation
