Over a tonne of fishing gear is abandoned in the sea every MINUTE, on average. Work is being done to change the economics to stop gear being dumped but the sea is already full of the stuff.
Every year this kills over 100,000 whales, dolphins and turtles as well as countless seabirds. It is also estimated to be destroying around 10% of the total commercial fish stocks.
You can help tackle this by keeping a lookout on your walks
The Polzeath Marine Conservation Group have come up with a good idea to get people doing coastal walks to act as an Early Warning System for this “ghost gear” so it can be removed as quickly as possible before it has chance to do any more harm.
If you come across a small amount of fishing gear on a beach that's safe to remove then bin it.
If you spot some that's too large to deal with yourself then take a photo and email it to sue@cornwallsealgroup.co.uk, describing where it is and giving an idea of size.
If you spot some that's too large to deal with yourself then take a photo and email it to sue@cornwallsealgroup.co.uk, describing where it is and giving an idea of size.