Verified against COMAR 08.02.03.07 and Maryland DNR guidance, September 2026. Confirm with Maryland DNR before you set gear.
What a turtle excluder device is
A turtle excluder device, which Maryland's regulation calls a turtle reduction device or TRD, and Delaware and Florida call a bycatch reduction device, is a rigid rectangle fastened inside the mouth of a crab pot funnel. It narrows the opening so a legal blue crab still walks in sideways but a diamondback terrapin can't fit. Terrapins go for the same bait crabs do, and a pot with no excluder is a terrapin trap; they can't surface to breathe and drown within hours.
The Maryland rule
Under COMAR 08.02.03.07, a crab pot set for recreational purposes must have a turtle reduction device that:
- Is firmly attached to each entrance or funnel in the lower chamber
- Is constructed of wire or plastic
- Is rectangular, no larger than 1-3/4" high by 4-3/4" long
This applies to every recreational pot in the Bay, its tributaries, and the coastal bays: the two pots off your pier included. Commercial pots are not required to carry them in Maryland. DNR compliance checks have found only about half of recreational pots with TRDs installed, and Natural Resources Police cite per missing device.
Other states
The idea is the same up and down the coast; the dimensions mostly aren't. Delaware (1.75" x 4.75") and New York (4-3/4" x 1-3/4") use the same rectangle Maryland does, so one device covers all three. New Jersey requires 2" x 6" excluders on pots in lagoons and water under 150 feet wide. Florida requires 2" x 6" BRDs or throats on all recreational traps. Each is on its state page.
Installing one
- Find the funnel mouth, the narrow end inside the pot where crabs enter the lower chamber.
- Seat the device in the opening so nothing gets in without passing through it.
- Fasten it to the funnel wire on all four sides with UV-rated zip ties or hog rings. "Firmly attached" is in the regulation; a loose one that a crab can push aside doesn't count.
- Repeat for every funnel. Most recreational pots have two; some have four.
Ours
We're molding a turtle excluder to the Maryland spec, which is also the Delaware and New York spec, in UV-stabilized polypropylene at our shop in Baltimore, for the waterfront owner who wants the pots off his pier to be legal without bending wire. First run ships in the coming weeks. Product page.
Everything else a Maryland waterfront pot needs is on the recreational crabbing guide.