NWIN #18 – October 2006

In this special edition, NorthWest Indian News dedicates the entire program to one topic: Derelict fishing net and crab pot removal from the sea bed of Puget Sound and the waters of the Pacific Coast.

Lummi Tribal member Chenoa Egawa and Tlingit Tribal member Gene Tagaban co-host the program from the “Bet Sea”, a former purse seine fishing boat  modified for the purpose of removing lost or abandoned fishing nets and crab pots from the sea floor. NWIN discusses the scope of the problem and what we can all do to help clean our waterways of this particularly destructive kind of pollution.

Fishermen never intend to lose their expensive nets or crab pots but accidents do happen. Once lost, the nets and pots continue to do what they are designed to do; catch and kill fish, crab and marine creatures of all types.

The Northwest Straits Commission is the lead agency involved in the recovery of derelict fishing gear. The recovery team aboard the “Bet Sea” have removed thousands of tons of derelict gear from the sea bed and have forged a program that serves as a model for other agencies intending to recover derelict gear throughout the world. A twelve minute video produced by the Northwest Straits Commission is included in NorthWest Indian News program 18.

Nooksack Tribal Member and NWSC Diver Jack Iotte has the tough job of diving and removing derelict pots and nets from the sea floor.

Prologue and epilogue comments by Chairman of Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Billy Frank, Jr. , Nisqually Tribal member, give insight to the importance of keeping our waters clear of this and other types of debris and pollution.