Kerry MacKay has a few suggestions for what we do with recovered fishing lines... plus, a challenge!
ENVIRONMENT
Tangled
Kerry MacKay has a few suggestions for what we do with recovered fishing lines... plus, a challenge!
How many times have you seen a critter being harmed by fishing line on a dive? There are plenty of videos online, but is the algorithm set for shock value, or is the problem getting worse?
I see maybe a couple of tangled critters a year. I’ ve had crabs stuck fast in tangles of monofilament line, tentatively cut line away from a feisty lobster, and seen pollock and dogfish with hooks trailing line. If anyone has tips on how to grab a free-swimming pollock and wrestle it into submission to remove a hook, do let me know.
Maybe I’ m getting old, but back when I first learned to dive( about 17 years ago), it seemed rare. Sure, I would occasionally see that dreaded monofilament fishing line that we are all warned about during our training, but never tangled critters. I
sometimes wondered if I really needed to strap my beast-sized sword knife to my calf for every single dive.
I have since refined my cutting kit thanks to experience, and even better, learning from others. There’ s so much to learn from each other, and these stories often have stellar entertainment value. I also hope to learn more through some Ghost Fishing training.
I’ ve retired that old sword of a knife in favour of keeping my calf less snaggable. I now have a small line cutter on each dive computer strap, and on my waist strap trauma shears and a much smaller dive knife [ trauma shears are a type of scissors used by medical personnel to safely cut clothing from injured people ]. I do still get accused of it being a little overkill.
“ I do see a lot of fishing line on my dives”
While I’ m glad I don’ t see tangled critters often, I do see a lot of fishing line on my dives. I could swear there is more lost and abandoned line than there used to be. Even sites familiar to many of us, such as the Breda near Oban, seem to be more draped in line than I ever remember as a fresh Ocean or Sports Diver. I am in no way familiar with fishing or angling. I’ m sure there are many factors at play. Has angling become more popular? Is new line much more expensive, causing anglers to keep older line in use longer and therefore losing it more often when it snaps? Was I simply blind in the past and too captivated by the rust to see the line?
My buddies and I have made it a regular part of our dives to clean up. I use my faithful red goodie bag and have added a big fat cork to stick hooks into. It never ceases to amaze me the variety of lures and leads we find. Some look brand new, and I’ ve been told they are not cheap!
Later, we sort out what could be used again and endeavour to reunite them with local anglers for the price of a small donation to the Lifeboats. Some lead becomes more dive weights( word of caution here, the fumes are toxic). I’ ve even found a tame angler who’ s got the patience and knowledge to salvage the beads and other mysterious thingamies. To complete the job, the line can be sent to the National Anglers Line Recycling Scheme( NALRS). There are collection bins across the country, or you can post it.
March is the start of Keep Britain Tidy and Keep Scotland Beautiful’ s Spring Clean. I challenge everyone to see how much fishing line you can clean up from your local dive sites. Complete the loop by linking up with your local anglers to raise awareness of the litter you find, return lures to owners, and help get more line recycled.
What can we do with lost fishing line?
Editor’ s note Got photos of fishing line you have safely recovered? Please email to simon @ scubamagazine. co. uk and tell us about it. �
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