Ghost Fishing UK
In-between our own recovery missions and the recycling of our ocean plastics, we’ve had the pleasure to collaborate once again with the amazing people at Ghost Fishing UK – a leading charity removing lost and abandoned fishing gear from our oceans using highly trained volunteer scuba divers.
Glen Strathallan
The Glen Strathallan built in 1928 was a British trawler ship that got converted into a private yacht, which served in the Royal Navy in World War II. She was scuttled (purposely sunk) in 1970 in Plymouth Sound and is now used as a diver training site.
Ghost fishing UK was called onto the scene when a large trawl net was reported to be entangled on the boilers metal core.
What are ghost nets and why are they a problem?
Ghost nets are abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear that continues to trap and kill marine life, including fish, seals, and sea turtles, as well as entanglement risks for human divers.
A large wrasse (~1m) was found trapped in the net entangled on the Glen Strathallan and was freed by the Ghost Fishing UK divers underwater.
How was the net removed?
The Ghost Fishing UK divers undertook the recovery dive by lifting the loose end of the net vertically into a tower. The net was then ‘sausaged’ into a neat and manageable bundle that could be cut free at the base that the could be safely and easily recovered on to the boat.
How was the net transformed?
After being contacted by Fred, a member of Ghost Fishing UK, the Behaviour Change Cornwall team went to retrieve the net to begin the process of it being made into bracelets.
The massive trawl net was in many sections of different types and colours of net, in fact it was so big it could not all fit in our van!
Once back at our facility we started the laborious task of unpicking and cleaning the net. After a few months of hard work the net was finally cleaned enough to be transformed into ghost fishing net bracelets that both Ghost Fishing UK and us sell to support the work in which we are doing to help clean up our oceans.
