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Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Project
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In July 2005
the SeaDoc Society at the University of California, Davis
Wildlife Health Center launched the California Derelict
Fishing Gear Removal Project.
Derelict gear is lost fishing gear that sits on the seafloor,
gets caught on rocky reefs, or floats in the water column.
Gear made of synthetic materials doesn't decompose in seawater
and may remain in the marine environment for many years. |
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| Jeff June, Natural
Resources Consultants, Inc, Seattle |
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MARE's
Involvement
MARE has been assisting The SeaDoc Society by identifying
and locating derelict gear around the California Channel
Islands. To date, MARE and the Department of Fish and Game have located over 40 pieces of derelict
fishing gear, including a huge fishing net covering 5,000
square feet of the seafloor off Santa Rosa Island. This
purse-seine net, weighing in at 4,000 pounds, has since
been removed by the SeaDoc Society. |
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Derelict
gear can impact the marine environment in several ways:
it can continue to "catch" marine animals, which
become entangled or trapped; it can damage the habitat on
which it rests; it can pose an underwater hazard for boaters,
entangling boat propellers and anchors; and it can similarly
endanger humans, especially divers. |
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In
its first year, the project has recovered over 10 tons of
derelict gear from the marine waters around the California
Channel Islands. Similar projects in Washington and Hawaii
have removed hundreds of tons of derelict fishing gear,
but this is the first such program in California.
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Anyone who loses fishing gear or observes derelict fishing
gear underwater is encouraged to report their sighting by
calling 1-888-491-GEAR or filling out a reporting form available
online at http://www.derelictfishinggear.org
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