Volunteers clear more than 1,000 pounds of lobster traps from beach at weekend clean-up event

GOLETA, Calif. – Nearly 50 volunteers came together on Saturday to remove more than 1,000 pounds of lobster traps from Black Rock Beach in Goleta as part of a clean-up event hosted by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.

Volunteers and members of the commercial fishing community dug out and removed 40 lobster traps that had washed ashore and would have otherwise remained on the beach for years, said Laura Sanchez, spokeswoman for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. They also prepared 20 more traps for future removal, she added.

"During lobster season, storms with heavy swells can dislodge the traps that have been set and send them adrift. As these traps are carried by currents, they can entangle marine organisms, release microplastics, and pose safety hazards to vessels," Sanchez said.

"Without regular cleanups, dozens of traps can accumulate on certain beaches and pile up over time."

Volunteers used shovels and bolt cutters to dig the buried traps out of the rocks and sand, and the heavy metal-framed traps were clipped onto a buoyed rope and winched through the surf to a commercial fishing vessel owned by local fisherman Chris Voss, Sanchez said.

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper leveraged its Watershed Brigade community clean-up program and volunteers to survey local beaches in 2021, locating and reporting derelict traps to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Because of this effort, Channelkeeper discovered a high concentration of traps that had accumulated near Black Rock Beach, a heavily-fished area below More Mesa in Goleta, Sanchez said.

Channelkeeper began planning with local fishermen to clear traps from the beach after the 2022 lobster season ended in March, she added.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to partner with our local fishing community,” said Benjamin Pitterle, Channelkeeper’s science and policy director.

“We also appreciate the dedicated work of volunteers, many of whom were UCSB students, who labored to clear the traps. By working together today, we were able to remove more than a thousand of pounds of derelict fishing gear that would otherwise have persisted on the beach for years.”