East Suffolk Council
Marine pollution prevention scheme nets more than a tonne of end-of-life fishing gear for recycling
More than a tonne of end-of-life fishing gear has been prevented from posing a potential hazard to marine life following a successful recovery programme.
A four-day appeal for nets, ropes, plastic pots and fish crates was held in Lowestoft by a team of partner organisations belonging to the Eastern and Southern Plastics Coalition (ESPC), during the week of World Oceans Day.
Members of the commercial fishing fleet were invited to drop off any end-of-life plastic gear for free recycling as part of an effort to save redundant tackle from damaging the marine environment. The exercise, held at Hamilton Dock in Lowestoft, also targeted abandoned fishing gear potentially encountered and recovered by crews while out at sea.
The activity recovered 1,194 kg for recycling, including gill nets containing the equivalent of several kilometres of filament, line and rope, as well as more than a tonne of additional material unable to be recycled but now destined for safe disposal.
Nets have been sent off for shredding by Milspeed, and pellets used to make new products, while ropes will be reprocessed by MYGroup into composite mixed plastic board.
The scheme was supported by East Suffolk Council and coordinated through the ESPC, which comprises a number of organisations with a role in reducing plastic pollution, including the Eastern Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority (IFCA), which led on liaison with the local fishing fleet to engage them with the initiative, while Keep Britain Tidy sorted and prepared materials received for subsequent recycling, and energy firm RWE provided main funding for the project.
Cllr Sally Noble, East Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for the Environment, pictured with officers from the IFCA, said:
“The commercial fishing community have really embraced this campaign and done their bit for a healthy marine environment by bringing along old fishing gear for free disposal. Old or discarded fishing gear can pose a real threat by trapping and entangling marine life so it is such a reassurance to see so much material recovered through this project that we now know will never enter the marine environment, even by accident.
“The great majority of our local fishing fleet take responsibility for managing their end-of-life gear, and I would like to thank everyone who took part, as well as the partner organisations brought together through the ESPC for organising, running and supporting the programme.”
As thanks for engaging with the project, and a symbol of closing the loop of recycling, the fishermen will be offered utility knives with handles made from recycled gill nets – similar to material recovered through the scheme and sorted and processed by Keep Britain Tidy.
It is hoped that the lessons and insights drawn from this initial event, believed to be the first of its kind conducted in Suffolk, and a subsequent follow-up planned by the ESPC partners for another location on the coastline of Suffolk in the autumn, will contribute valuable learning to wider efforts to prevent and tackle the issues of end-of-life fishing gear.