Grantee: Plastics@Bay

Duration: November 2022 – March 2023

Background

The issue of marine plastic waste is well-known, especially as it impacts on significant areas of the Scottish coastline.  Much of this litter is generated by the fishing and  aquaculture industries, with almost 30% of that consisting of fishing net and rope cuttings of 5-50cm in length (generated when fishermen/women mend nets or creels by cutting out damaged sections and replacing them).

A combination of lack of awareness, habit and carelessness means that many of these cuttings are discarded in ways which cause them to become marine litter.  Their relatively short length means that they unravel and break up easily, generating micro and nano-plastic pollution hazards.

This project worked with harbours on the Outer Hebrides, and their respective fishermen/women to pilot ways to collect these net cuttings quayside and then recycle them.

The below video, kindly made by JHP Visuals as a 1% for the Planet donation to HIEF, beautifully showcases the Plastics@Bay Cutting Down Project.

Project activities

The Plastic@Bay team worked closely with local fishermen/women to determine the optimal harbour locations across Lewis & Harris. At these five harbours, collection stations – in the form of open sided metal luggage cages – were placed conveniently with accompanying guidance.

“What we’ve found is, just from the simple act of placing a bin there, fishermen are not just only putting their net cuttings in there, but they’re also actually sorting out their other plastics” – Plastics@Bay

Over the course of just two-months, a tonne of rope and net cuttings were collected. This demonstrates that marine pollution can be effectively prevented at source through local initiatives that work collaboratively with industry.

This project was ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘Reducing Pollution’ category at the Conservation Collective Awards 2023.

Images, courtesy of Plastics@Bay, showing the Net Cutting Collection points at Stockinish (left) and Leverburgh (right).