UGA Trawling Program helping educate public

SKIDAWAY ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Captain Todd Recicar manages the Sea Dog, an old lobster boat turned research vessel, housed at The UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

He’s part of a team that has a special permit, which allows them to trawl for fish, shrimp and other marine species living in our area waters.

“Every catch we get is different. Every day is different, so it’s not a monotonous job by any means,” said Captain Recicar.

But it’s not just the captain that’s on board. The public gets an opportunity to come aboard too.

“It’s always great to be a part of something like that where they get a unique experience. A lot of the participants we get on board, whether they’re students or retirees, it’s their first time out on the water here, or at least their first time being on board a trawling vessel and seeing how it works on a shrimp boat.”

An ecological survey is conducted on some of these trips. That marine life is brought on board, then sorted and counted as a way to track the health of the overall population.

Water samples are then recorded then reported into a database so scientists can see how the temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen levels change over time.

Although the tides change daily, Captain Todd wouldn’t change a thing about their work for the coastal environment.

“Aw, I mean, my office is the outdoors. There’s no hesitation to get out of bed and come to a job like this.”

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