Derelict Trap Rodeo 2025

Overview

On Saturday, July 12, 2025, The International SeaKeepers Society partnered with Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves for the 2025 Derelict Trap Rodeo at Matheson Hammock Marina. The rodeo is a biennial effort to remove abandoned traps and fishing gear during the blue crab, stone crab, and lobster fishing season closure. Abandoned or lost traps pollute the bay, trapping and injuring many species that are not being targeted, a process referred to as Ghost Fishing. SeaKeepers joined Miami Waterkeeper, Debris Free Oceans, Clean This Beach Up, Conservation Concepts LLC, and Volunteercleanup.org at the marina to facilitate the cleanup, with volunteers setting out on boats to remove traps or staying at the marina to remove debris from the mangroves on the shoreline. Volunteers quickly began returning with trash, both on foot and on boat. While the boaters returned with piles of empty traps, ropes, lines, and other debris, the volunteers who stayed on the shoreline returned with bucket after bucket of debris such as plastic bags, bottles, and other smaller pieces of trash. Over the course of the morning, our volunteers did an incredible job, removing over 112 traps and over 782 pounds of trash from the marina and the bay! We are so proud to partner with all these organizations to facilitate such an impactful cleanup and leave Biscayne Bay and Matheson Hammock Park and Marina much cleaner. We would also like to give a huge thanks to our volunteers for joining us on such an early Saturday morning and contributing to an incredibly successful cleanup!