EASTON, MARYLAND — An Easton engineering and environmental firm is getting $126,000 in federal marine-debris money to put Talbot watermen to work pulling lost crab pots out of Eastern Bay and the waters around Tilghman Island.
William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, through its Nationwide Fishing Trap, Removal, Assessment and Prevention (TRAP) Program, listed Rauch Inc., Maryland, at $126,000 among 11 new coastal cleanup projects in a Sept. 23, 2026, announcement. The release says commercial watermen recruited through the Talbot Watermen's Association will use pre-mapped locations and live imaging sonar to recover derelict blue crab traps, with recovered gear prioritized for reuse and recycling.
The third round of competitive TRAP subawards totals about $1.24 million across seven states and is expected to remove another 15,450 traps while creating and sustaining 128 jobs, the announcement says. The program is supported by a 2023 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program and administered by VIMS's Center for Coastal Resources Management.
Lost traps, which the release calls "ghost traps," capture both commercially valuable species and bycatch. Beginning in 2008, VIMS worked with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and local watermen on a large-scale Chesapeake Bay removal program that recovered more than 34,000 derelict crab pots, according to the same announcement.
Rauch lists its office at 106 N. Harrison St. in Easton. Its services include architecture, civil engineering, surveying and environmental work.
Source: William & Mary
Also: NOAA Marine Debris Program, Rauch Inc.
Drawn from public records; drafted with AI and edited by Peter Gorman before publication.
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