In the first round of a yearlong, $350,000 project to clean up lost and abandoned fishing gear along the California coast, UC Davis and contract divers in May removed 220 pieces of gear -- mostly lobster traps -- from the waters around Santa Catalina Island.

Of the 102 intact traps recovered from May 15-26, nearly one-fourth were still catching lobsters (62 live, two dead), more than two months after the season closed.

"From earlier surveys, we knew there were old lobster traps underwater around Catalina," said Kirsten Gilardi, executive director of the UC Davis SeaDoc Society. "But we honestly didn't expect to find as much gear as we did. To pull these traps out of the water -- especially the ones that were still catching lobster -- was really wonderful."

Of the 220 pieces of fishing equipment collected, 64 were lobster traps in good condition and were returned to the commercial fishermen who work off Catalina. With traps costing $60 to $100 each, the recovery work saved lobster fishermen at least $4,000.

"Fishermen are careful not to lose gear because it impacts the environment and the fisheries, and is expensive to replace," said Mark Brubaker, a commercial fisherman hired by the SeaDoc Society to remove the gear. "Returning the gear that we find back to fishermen is a win-win situation for everyone."

Similar projects in Washington and Hawaii have removed hundreds of tons of derelict fishing gear, but this is the first such program in California. Called the California Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Program, it is chiefly funded by the Ocean Protection Council through the California State Coastal Conservancy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program. The project is managed by the SeaDoc Society.

"If the first round of cleanup is any indication, this project will provide substantial benefits to both the environment and the fishing industry," said California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman, who also sits as chair of the Ocean Protection Council.

The project is managed by the SeaDoc Society, a marine ecosystem health program of the Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The SeaDoc Society's mission is to ensure the health of marine wildlife and ecosystems through science and education.