Port Angeles: Divers comb bottoms for abandoned junk

PORT ANGELES — Divers on Tuesday wrapped up the second round of dives for fish-killing derelict gear in Port Angeles Harbor and the program’s promoter said the project may move to Dungeness Bay today.

Joe Schmitt, Clallam County Marine Resources Committee chairman and the program’s biggest supporter, said a three-member diving crew on Saturday pulled up 8,000 pounds of lost fish net. The crew on Sunday retrieved several derelict crab pots from the harbor floor.

“I think we’ve got it just about cleaned up,” Schmitt said Tuesday afternoon, referring to Port Angeles Harbor. He added that many of the 292 targets located in the harbor turned out to be crab pots that were so deteriorated that they no longer could trap anything.

“The program’s working exactly the way we hoped it would,” said Jeff June, with Natural Resources Consultants of Seattle. June was hired last year to supervise the project.