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Life Imitates Speech: State Puts Out Bid Request for Crab Pot Disposal

Posted by Brett Davis - October 23, 2009

During a July 31 speech honoring the late economist Milton Friedman, the Freedom Foundation’s own Amber Gunn had this to say: “Politicians fall all over themselves to tell their constituents about all the people they’ve put to work disposing of old crab pots, smelling Cheese Whiz, tagging squirrels and other such nonsense. Of course, crab pots and Cheese Whiz aren’t the usual justification for government jobs.”

 
That last part about Cheese Whiz isn’t true—at least not yet—but the same thing can’t be said for crab pots, as the state has put out a bid request for Derelict Crab Gear Recovery Services. The information provided on Washington’s Electronic Business Solution (WEBS) site regarding this bid was pretty general, and I had some questions: How much would this cost? Why do crab pots need to be removed from the bottom of the sea? Why now? Is Amber psychic?
 
Because my knowledge of crabbing is limited to what I learn from occasionally watching Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel, I got in touch with the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), and was told the cost of hiring a vessel and operator to recover and remove crab gear would cost anywhere from $300 to $3,000 or more a day, depending on the size of the vessel and work. Dan Ayres, a lead coastal shellfish biologist for DFW, e-mailed me the Project Narrative, which states the overall cost of the project is $145,743, with $73,612 in federal funds requested and $72,131 in matching funds from the state.
 
 
“The work we are conducting is a federally funded pilot project designed to answer some of the very questions you have posed,” Ayers said in response to my e-mail query. I’m sure taxpayers around the nation are relieved to know that the government will soon understand how serious the derelict crab pot situation really is. Talk about diminishing returns.
 
Seriously, does it make sense to force Washington taxpayers to foot the bill for crab pot removal at a time when they are also being told to prepare for tax increases? And is it fair to taxpayers in Maryland or Oklahoma to be forced to pay for the removal of crab pots in Washington? Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
 

That a seemingly over-the-top example from Amber’s speech might become reality is disturbing. (I’m keeping a lookout for a request for bid on Cheese Whiz smelling.) Bottom line: The state’s questionable spending habits and whack priorities make many taxpaying citizens, well, crabby.

Thoughts?   Add Comment -

John said on Oct 23 2009 at 7:56pm
Derelict fishing gear, crabpots included, does pose a thread to wildlife and makes a helluva mess. I'm not saying this should be the state's highest priority, but it is a problem and should be dealth with somehow.

John Chittick said on Oct 24 2009 at 12:17pm
On the surface (no pun intended), it seems that the typical no-risk bureaucratic method of employing high tech equipment to find said crab pots is their solution. The money involved is for a pilot project only which means they're only scratching the surface in terms of cost.

I'm sure there are much cheaper methods with slightly elevated risk to bottom dwellers such as allowing recreational crab fishers (I'm one) to drag in areas of concern, being able to keep any gear found. That example would cost almost nothing. I'm sure there are other solutions as well that don't presuppose the value of each and every incidental bottom dweller to be infinate (the typical fisheries regulatory econonometric).

Trent said on Oct 26 2009 at 1:56pm
How much cleaner would the natural environment be if Sierra Club et. al. spent their money cleaning up crab pots and doing other useful things instead of lobbying for bigger government in hopes of making somebody else pay to hire a crab pot removal czar to come up with a RFP and maybe write some WACs and hire some FTEs and....