, 2011). In addition, 12% of the captured females in the York River of the Chesapeake Bay were egg-bearing (Havens et al., 2008). These results demonstrate that derelict traps could potentially impact the breeding population. In addition, in many cases dead organisms serve as bait that attracts other organisms (called “self-baiting”) to the DFT until the trap stops ghost fishing (Havens et al., 2008). Estimates suggest that self-baiting can double the catch rates of DFTs in some cases

(Havens et al., 2008). Derelict traps also impact non-target species. In North Carolina, for example, traps caught 45 taxa including shrimp, fish, urchins, and terrapins (Voss et al., 2012). In the USVI, during the six months that experimental fish traps were tracked, 42 species of fish from 21 families were trapped and one-fifth of the catch was non-target species (Clark et al., 2012). In Virginia, over 5000 fish (33 species) learn more were documented in DFTs including commercially important species such as Atlantic croaker Afatinib purchase (Micropogonias undulatas) and black sea bass (Centropristis striata) ( Bilkovic et al., 2014). DFTs may also catch threatened and endangered species, and species of concern. In North Carolina and Virginia, for example, diamondback terrapins are a concern because they encounter derelict traps in their preferred estuarine habitats ( Bilkovic et al., 2012 and Wood, 2010). Voss et al. (2012) found that at least 5 terrapins

were killed by DFTs in

their study area, with more suspected to have decomposed before observations were possible. Though the number of threatened and endangered species caught in DFTs may be relatively small, the loss of a few individuals can have significant population impacts because these species have small populations and are slow to reach reproductive maturity. Once traps stop ghost fishing, they may remain intact for long periods of time before degrading. See Fig. 3 for examples of how traps become fouled and begin to degrade in USVI, Maryland, and Alaska. In all three time series, traps maintain some structural integrity during the survey period (which ranges from several months in Maryland and USVI to over seven years in Alaska). These intact derelict traps can move along the seabed and negatively impact sensitive habitats. Surveys of fishing traps and Protirelin fishing-related gear in the Florida Keys determined that wind and severe weather events accumulated the highest density of fishing trap debris in the most sensitive habitats, corals; and research has shown that traps reduce eelgrass and salt marsh habitat by abrasion and smothering (Uhrin et al., 2005 and Uhrin and Schellinger, 2011). Research in Puget Sound noted a 30% improvement in eelgrass cover within one year of crab trap removal, and a similar study in coastal North Carolina found complete recovery of Spartina alterniflora (after a decline of 57.3% stem height and 67.