Operation Trap Announces Schedule of Watergoat Cleanouts to Protect Marine Life | Volunteers Welcome

Media Release | August 17, 2026
OPeration TRAP

Fall is here! This semester, all our cleanouts will be conducted on Fridays. If you would like to help, please sign up using the registration links. Meeting locations will be sent a few days before the cleanout. Also, if you know of any other clubs or people that may be interested in keeping trash out of our waterways, please feel free to forward this email to them. For all Operation TRAP cleanout dates and events, check out the calendar on our website.

Fall cleanout opportunities:

• Friday, August 28th: Pasco County Watergoat Clean Out, 9 am. Registration link: volunteersignup.org/8KQ4T
• Friday, September 25th: Pasco County Watergoat Clean Out, 9 am. Registration link: volunteersignup.org/8KQ4T
• Friday, October 30th: Pasco County Watergoat Clean Out, 9 am. Registration link: volunteersignup.org/8KQ4T
• Friday, November 20th: Pasco County Watergoat Clean Out, 9 am. Registration link: volunteersignup.org/8KQ4T
• Friday, December 18th: Pasco County Watergoat Clean Out, 9 am. Registration link: volunteersignup.org/8KQ4T

Our webinar recording of Operation TRAP – two years of collecting debris and data is available here. Learn more about the amounts and types of debris we have been capturing.

We also have interceptor adoption opportunities in Pasco County for individuals and/or groups looking for ways to collect volunteer hours and become environmental stewards/citizen scientists. Operation TRAP provides all the supplies and training needed for cleanouts. Person(s) or groups conduct cleanouts once a month at their convenience and collect data that will be included in our database. See attached flyer or click here for more information.

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Operation TRAP is an ongoing effort to address litter and debris that harm marine life by collecting them at the source in the North Suncoast and Big Bend areas along Florida’s western coastline.

With the help of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Florida Sea Grant and the University of Florida are strategically enhancing infrastructure to capture debris and reduce the quantity of litter entering Aquatic Preserve waterways in the Big Bend and Nature Coast region of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

For more information about the program, link to sources here

• Nearly $1 Million Litter Interception Project Kicks Off in Pasco County, Florida Sea Grant, flseagrant.org/nearly-1-million-litter-interception-project-kicks-off-in-pasco-county
• Capturing Debris in Florida Aquatic Preserves through Operation TRAP,  NOAA Marine Debris Program.marinedebris.noaa.gov/removal/capturing-debris-florida-aquatic-preserves-through-operation-trap
• Sign up to volunteer at ifas-seagrant.catalog.instructure.com/courses/operation-trap-volunteer-training
• Operation TRAP Proves “Taking out the Trash” can be Rewarding, Florida Sea Grant, flseagrant.org/operation-trap-proves-taking-out-the-trash-can-be-rewarding/

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