Recently, we received a message from a member of the public that a lost/abandoned net had appeared on Seaton beach near Looe, and needed recovering as soon as possible. The net was quite a heavy tangled lump and had been secured to the bottom of a ladder, preventing the sea from reclaiming it. Due to its size, they weren't able to recover it by themselves. We were sent a photo along with an accurate What3words location and informed that where the net was would be completely covered at high tide.
Given the location and tide times during the days following the report, we soon realised that once again, it was all going to be down to one man.
Jules, got up early the following day to get some extra work time in, enabling him to have a few extra minutes at lunch to take a look. After locating the lost/abandoned net and dragging it a few hundred metres to his car, it was safely out of harms way and will soon be on its way to be recycled with Odyssey Innovation Ltd Net Regeneration
Luckily, he was joined by his wife, Tash, who managed to get some photos of his tremendous efforts! Also, a big thank you to the members of the public who initially pulled the net off the beach in the first place and tied it to the ladder to prevent it from being taken back out to sea.
If you ever come across lost/abandoned nets whether diving or at the beach, please report them to us and we'll try to deal with them as soon as possible to reduce the chances of them being lost back to sea and becoming ghost nets.
Ghost nets, officially known as ALDFG (Abandoned, Lost or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear) pose a significant risk to people and all marine life in an often endless cycle of death. Once an animal becomes trapped in the net, it becomes bait for the next. Any larger marine animals can suffer a slow, painful death if they become entangled. Seals suffering with pieces of net around their necks is an all too common sight. The sooner we can remove the lost/abandoned nets from the environment, the better it is for everyone.
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