Saving Diamondback Terrapins

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Abandoned crab traps (also known as “ghost pots”) strewn along the Atlantic coast can snare turtles, fish, and other wildlife. Legislation, new technology, and conservation efforts are now helping to stop the entrapment.

Once considered a delicacy, diamondback terrapin turtles (“terrapin” is Algonquin for “edible turtles that live in brackish water”) were almost hunted to extinction. Now they’re facing another threat in the form of ghost crab traps. Now state and local governments, crab trappers, and other individuals have formed a partnership to prevent derelict fishing gear from harming turtles in the brackish water that forms the terrapin's domain along the Atlantic coast.

In 2008, with help from Dave Lee, director of The Tortoise Reserve, Audubon North Carolina received a grant from NOAA to study derelict crab pots and their effects on diamondback terrapins. Education Director Andy Wood is heading up the project for Audubon. Keep an eye on the website for more information soon, and in the meantime, take a look at a great video on the Audubon magazine website called “Shell-shocked: Protecting Turtles from Crab Traps.”