Pots
Pots are traps used to catch crustaceans such as lobster, crabs and whelk (conch).
Traditionally, pots were made of wood and netting but are now made of plastic coated metal. Typical pots are 4x2x2 feet in area.
Pots are baited with small skates (rays) and strung together by rope or cable called a string, about 100 feet in length The pots lay on the ocean floor, usually near rocky terrain, the preferred habitat of the target species.
It is environmentally friendly and considered to be a conservative and sustainable method of fishing by eliminating large amounts of bycatch. Traps are hauled to the surface where the catch is still alive. Incidentally captured species are released unharmed. Pots are then re-baited and reset, and usually harvested the next day. Mesh size or opening size can be increased in order to allow younger lobsters to escape.
The traditional lobster pot consists of two compartments, a kitchen and parlor. On entering the trap through a net funnel, the lobster, or other species, enters the baited kitchen. With little room to maneuver and turn round, the lobster continues forward into another net funnel and the parlor, where the species is trapped.
Each trap or string is marked by a buoy (float) identifying the lobsterman’s license number. In many states, regulations are enforced by restricting the quantity of traps allowed for each license.
Pots are flexible in their use. They can be placed in shallow water close to shore or as deep as several hundred feet hundreds of miles off shore.
