Divers head to the Wild Isles to tackle nightmare nets

Volunteer divers from the award winning charity Ghost Fishing UK are heading to Shetland for a week-long mission to help the fishing community clean up the islands.

Responding to reports from local fishermen of giant gill nets, mostly non native to the UK, catching all kinds of wildlife as well as wasting fish stocks, the team is heading north to help tackle the problem.

Shetland fishermen, concerned about the environmental impact of unmonitored landings, discarded gill nets and an increase in harm to wildlife and unintended bycatch, have been protesting about the gill nets which are alleged to be used then dumped by foreign vessels.

Fishermen from the islands have been pulling in these huge gill nets, some with rocks inside to weigh them down, with their own nets and are then left with the problem and the cost of disposal.

They contacted Christine Grosart, trustee of Ghost Fishing UK, to see if anything could be done to help.

She said; “I was shocked to receive some pretty harrowing images of enormous gill nets, dumped at sea, full of life including birds. We have a good track record of working in Orkney so figured Shetland should not be a problem for our team.”

The Ghost Fishing UK charity has been running since 2015 and operates with volunteers all over the UK, cleaning up lost fishing gear and recycling it wherever possible. The charity is unique in that it works with the fishing community to tackle the problem and this has changed the landscape of ocean conservation in the UK.

“Since we won the Fishing News Awards a couple of years ago, attitudes have slowly been changing” Christine explains “It is no longer ‘us and them’ when it comes to divers, conservationists and fishermen. We all want the same thing; a healthy, thriving ocean. These large gill nets are unfair, completely unmonitored and not only impact our fish stocks for our own fishery, but are causing havoc with our wildlife. Our fishermen just don’t use them, so we are sure they are not native to our islands.”

The charity will be in Shetland from 6th – 11th August aboard MV Valhalla, and is looking for volunteers each evening to help with sorting recovered ghost gear and cleaning it, ready for recycling back on the mainland. Any recovered creels will be given back to the fishermen and the charity is slowly receiving reports of lost gear.

They are appealing to fishermen to tell them if they know of any lost fishing gear in the 35 metre depth range.

Arlene Robertson from Fishing Forward, a pressure group with well over 3000 members, said “We are appalled at what is going on around Shetland/UK waters. We contacted and welcomed Ghost Fishing UK to Shetland to help highlight the truth. Shetland fishermen have been gathering photographic evidence of the tons of deliberately discarded fishing gear and domestic waste from foreign owned fishing boats which is desperately harmful for the environment and to wildlife.”

Ghost Fishing UK are hosting an outreach evening on Thursday 10th August at Shetland Museum, Lerwick and tickets have run out.

“It’s a full house” Christine says “We are thrilled that we are going to have a mix of public, fishermen, divers and conservationists all in one place, working towards the same thing. We are hosting talks from Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, Fishing Forward UK and of course providing updates on the project ourselves. It’s going to be a groundbreaking evening.”

Several local companies have offered assistance to the charity, including Northlink Ferries and DFDS Haulage on Shetland. The charity has been crowdfunding to raise money to cover the cost of the boat and equipment and are almost on target for £20,000.

The team is planning on sending a couple of their members out on a fishing boat for the day to get a real feel for how the industry works and they are delighted in the assistance given by Fishing Forward and two boats have offered to take the volunteers out.

Arlene says “Fishing Forward UK and affiliated fishermen concur with Ghost Fishing UK in their quest for a clean, healthy, thriving ocean for us all to enjoy. Shetland fishermen want to invest in sustainable fishing; after all, it is their heritage, livelihood and future.”

You can follow the project on all social media platforms and visiting www.ghostfishing.co.uk