Hmmm...this is fairly interesting. Now, I am not a waterman, but, it is my understanding that crabs prefer fresher bait. If a lost pot has been in the water too long, the original bait(fish most likely) will be gone and the crabs caught in the pot will become cannibals. Crabs are not naturally cannibals. They will start to avoid the pot if they detect(for lack of a better word) dead and dying crabs.
This sounds like a subsidy for Virginia crabbers to stop them from over-fishing, much like the subsidies for So. Maryland farmers.
If any FReepers follow the water, please set me straight.
Here in Washington State all crab pots must have a hole big enough for crabs to exit.
During crabbing season, the hole is blocked and made impassable using a cotton based twine.
The whole reasoning is that if a pot is lost, after a few months the twine disintegrates, so that even if a crab decides he wants to go in the pot, there’s an easy exit.
Red Rock!!!
Yummmmm!!!