Some volunteers and members of the commercial fishing community came together for a unique cleanup effort at several Santa Barbara County beaches.
They teamed up to remove old lobster traps that had washed up on some area beaches. Researchers say an estimated 6,000 lobster traps a year are lost off the state’s coastline.
Some end up as debris on beaches and can pose a hazard to beachgoers and wildlife.
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the group Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara worked together for the fifth year in a row for the beach cleanup effort.
About 30 old traps were recovered and removed. The lobster trap removal effort focused on Santa Barbara and Goleta-area beaches.
The traps were loaded on kayaks and taken to a fishing boat, which transported them to Santa Barbara Harbor for disposal.
