ROCKS AND HOLES

Ghost Traps are Off-Limits

While it may look like a treasure chest just sitting there on the bottom of the ocean floor, lobster traps are off-limits for divers. When you are out on the water this mini season (assuming there is one) remember that taking lobsters from traps is illegal. This is the law even if the trap has been abandoned by the owner because it was lost in a storm or you cut the buoy off of it. 

If you do come across a trap do not bag the lobsters from it and especially do not haul it onto your boat like the two morons who were just convicted of stealing lobsters down in Monroe County, thats just a little obvious. Rocks and holes are the only places you can legally take lobsters from, so leave any man made objects alone.

While it is a felony to tamper with traps I don't think anyone is going to haul you off to jail if you help free some critters from a trap that has clearly been abandoned. This is a good article I found, which provides a little more information about what you can do when you come across a "ghost trap," which is unfortunately a term for an abandoned trap and not for a trap designed to catch the ghost lobster.