The Process
Read below to find out more about the where Rebecca collects materials for her woven items.
Commerical Dungeness crab line
Most of the material collected once fished for Dungeness crab by the commercial fishing fleet working out of the Port of Newport, Oregon.
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Image of commercial crab pot, crab line, buoys and permit tag. Each fishing vessel uses a unique color pattern for their buoys!
Commercial Dungeness crab pot set-up
The Dungeness crab fishery is heavily regulated. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife provides resources and education on this fishery. Read more HERE
Photo credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
No one hates retiring fishing rope more than a fisherman
If a fisherman can squeeze another season out of crab line, they will! It's expensive to replace. If the risk of line breaking while hauling up pots from the bottom of the ocean is too great, it's retired out and put in bins.
There are a lot of people that dig through these bins collected old line for various purposes and little actually goes to the landfill.
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I check the Port of Newport bins every morning and evening. On average, I collect and weave approximately 5000lbs of retired maritime ropes and nets each year. When I'm lucky, the fishermen will drop off their old line at the studio.
Dungeness crab permit tags
An expired commercial Dungeness crab permit tag is attached to every Gypsea Weaver item.
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Crab tags are attached to a buoy, which is attached to the crab line, which is attached to the crab pot at the bottom of the sea. Every season the issued tag is a different color.
The owner of the F/V Last Straw encourage me to start doing this a few years ago and donated all of his old tags as encouragement.
Other fishing vessels saw crab tags on Gypsea Weaver items around town and started dropping off their old tags at my studio, too. Recently I created this crab tag collection bucket to make it easier for everyone. And to show my appreciation for all of their hard work.
In 2023 these expired crab tag become by business card and a key chain!
Weaving the rope
This page is a work in progress. Stay tuned for more information!