Wrecked trawler’s net posed major hazard to island marine life.
 | | | Photo by: Courtesy of Caroline Neel | | Removing a Hazard -- Volunteer scuba divers have been working to cut and remove a 9,000-pound fishing net that is responsible for the deaths of many marine mammals. The net is expected to be completely removed by the end of February. | | |
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HUNTINGTON BEACH – A group of trained scuba divers volunteered their time to remove a large derelict fishing net in the waters off Catalina Island that for the past three years has been responsible for killing marine mammals and other sea life.
One by one, the divers dove into the ocean from the 70-foot trawler Captain Jack, and spent the day 150 feet underwater cutting the commercial net -- estimated to weigh more than 9,000 pounds.
“I have never seen a derelict fishing net that massive before,” stated Kurt Lieber, founder and president of Ocean Defenders Alliance, after watching an underwater video shot by Jason Manix. “Due to storms and currents, this net has wrapped itself around the wreck in layers, which further complicates the removal process. We’ll probably have to cut it into smaller pieces and may have to recover it over several trips to the site.”
ODA, a nonprofit marine conservation group in Huntington Beach that has removed more than 4 tons of abandoned and derelict fishing gear from the sea floor, led the dive, which is expected to be the first of many.
“People (dive teams) have been cutting the net as we speak,” Lieber explained during a Jan. 19 phone interview.
Lieber expects the net will be cleared from the site by the end of February.
The commercial net has been in the area since 2006, when the trawler Infidel sank off the East End of Catalina Island as it was fishing for squid. Since then, the net has continued to trap fish, invertebrates and sea mammals. If left in the ocean, biologists believe that hundreds of animals would eventually become trapped by the net and be killed -- and dozens have already become entangled.
Along with ODA volunteer divers, a group of commercial divers, Avalon Mayor Bob Kennedy and divers from three scuba stores on the island (Catalina Diver Supply, Catalina Scuba Luv and Dive Catalina) assisted in the net release. Independent divers Jason Manix and Donny Neel organized the dive team.
Photographers and videographers were on hand to document the recovery.
For more information, visit www.oceandefenders.org.
This article first appeared in the January 2009 issue of The Log Newspaper. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
