At the weekend, Fathoms Free volunteers took out our RIB Casper and removed ghost gear from two different sites off the coast of Falmouth, Cornwall.
The main purpose of the outing was to recover a large, abandoned monofilament gill net from a wreck in Falmouth Bay. The monofilament net, which had clearly been lost for a long time, was still fishing when volunteers first located it during the survey of the site on a previous dive. Entangled crustaceans were cut free when found alive during the survey to try and avoid the continued cycle of death from the self-baiting wildlife trap whilst we waited for a weather window to carry out the recovery.
This popular dive site was completely cleared of ghost gear a few years ago and is not directly targeted by gill netters. Therefore, this latest net highlights the issue of ghost gear drifting with the ocean currents and continuing to kill marine life without mercy until it washes up onto beaches or catches on underwater obstructions before being discovered by divers.
Whilst drifting with the oceans' currents, the net had also entangled what appears to be a couple of spools from a fishing rod!
The second dive was a survey of a relatively small area of the Bizzes reef where recreational divers frequently discover abandoned pots. As the Bizzies reef covers several square miles, the divers went in and searched an area around a specific coordinate with the aim to lift any single pots they might come across, and mark and larger quantities that would require a second visit.
A big thank you to our volunteers for giving up their Saturday to ensure the ghost gear recovered can no longer pose a threat to marine life. A huge thank you to all of our supporters, as without you, we simply wouldn't be able to continue our work.
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