Huge monofilament net retrieved from Plymouth Sound

Bank Holiday Monday, the team responded to a report from Devon and Severn IFCA concerning an abandoned monofilament net in Plymouth Sound that needed dealing with as soon as possible. In addition to the initial report from IFCA, we also received some images from a concerned member of the public showing a monofilament net tangled over rock and disappearing into the water.

The net stretched across the sea floor for over 400m, and was snagged on rocks and kelp along its entire length, which, along with the tidal flow, really tested the team's skills, experience, and stamina.

With a team of divers in the water and another team on the surface, the progress was slow and steady. The passionate volunteers worked relentlessly for hours all afternoon and into the evening to safely recover the net and free the marine life that was still alive.

Tangled in the net were dead birds, including shags, and an oystercatcher. There were dozens of lobsters of all sizes, dozens of edible and spider crabs of all sizes, wrasse, cat sharks, bull huss, and countless decomposing fish that were unidentifiable due to the condition they were in, acting as bait to the other marine life in the area.

Our hard-working volunteers freed dozens of animals from all species, but many more were sadly not so lucky.

Yesterday was Stingray's first ghost gear recovery, and having a longer and wider RIB to work from really made a difference. Despite reaching our target for Stingray's Revival, our overheads for boats maintenance, storage, insurance, fuel, and other running costs continue to grow yearly.

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