Two dozen lobster traps, plus a scatter of metal, plastic, and a car tire, were hauled off the Goleta coastline Saturday in the latest cleanup effort led by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and local fishermen.
Fourteen volunteers and members of the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara removed 26 traps from the sand near Black Rock Beach, where they had accumulated after being dislodged during lobster season.
Lost traps aren’t just debris — they can continue “ghost fishing,” entangle marine life, and sit embedded in sand for years if left alone.
This is the sixth year the groups have teamed up to deal with the problem.
“Commercial traps are extremely labor intensive and costly to build; therefore, no fisherman wants to lose their gear,” said Ava Schulenberg, assistant director of the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, said in a Santa Barbara Channelkeeper press release. “However, with recent swell events, losing gear is often inevitable.”
Leading up to the cleanup, Channelkeeper staff surveyed roughly 10 miles of coastline and flagged a cluster of traps near Black Rock Beach — a stretch difficult to access without coordinated effort.
Volunteers dug the traps out and ferried them through the surf to a fishing vessel, which transported them back to Santa Barbara Harbor.
“By working together, we were able to remove fishing gear that could have remained on the beach for years,” said Channelkeeper Program Assistant Veronica Moran.
The scale of the issue is not small. Between 2,500 and 6,500 traps are reported lost along the California coast each season.
Local cleanup efforts have scaled alongside the problem. In 2024, a similar collaboration removed more than 50 traps and roughly 6,000 pounds of debris from beaches between Goleta and More Mesa.
Organizers say they plan to continue the annual effort.
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