Effect of a Terrapin Excluder Device on Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, Trap Catches

摘要

Mortality of diamondback terrapins, Malaclemys terrapin, in blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, traps has become a controversial bycatch issue in some areas.udTraps with turtle excluder devices (TED’s) had increased sublegal (14.5%), legal (32.9%), and total (25.7%) blue crabudcatch per trap day (CPUE). There were statisticallyudsignificant differences between total (P=0.0202) and legal (0.0174) CPUE for standard traps and traps with TED’s. The increased catch rates of blue crabs in traps with TED’s may be due to decreased escapement through the entrance f