[yotuwp type=”videos” id=”9TJN_2azD2M” pagination=”off” column=”1″ per_page=”1″ title=”off” description=”off” thumbratio=”169″ player=”modestbranding=0&showinfo=0&rel=0&cc_load_policy=0&iv_load_policy=3″]
Video: Christine Grosart
Ghost Fishing UK was stunned to win the Sustainability Award at the 2022 Fishing News Awards. The winners were selected by a panel of industry judges and the award recognises innovation and achievement in improving sustainability and environmental responsibility, writes Christine Grosart.
Nominees must have demonstrated a unique and innovative response to an environmental sustainability issue within the UK or Irish industry, demonstrating that the project has gone above and beyond standard practice, and provided evidence of its impact. The judges looked particularly for projects that have influenced a significant change in behaviour and/or that have inspired broader awareness and/or engagement.
Ghost Fishing UK originated in 2015, training volunteer scuba divers to survey and recover lost fishing gear, with the aim of either returning it to the fishing industry or recycling it. The awards follows on from our success last year winning the Best Plastic Campaign at the Plastic Free Awards.
Now, the team has also been recognised at seemingly the opposite end of the spectrum. This is a unique achievement as Christine explains. “We have always held the belief that working with the fishing industry is far more productive than being against it, in terms of achieving our goals to reduce and remove lost fishing gear.”
The positive response to our fisheries reporting system that we received from both the fishing industry and the marine environment sector, was evidence that working together delivers results.
The feedback we got from the awards evening and the two-day Scottish Skipper Expo where we had an exhibit the following day, was that the fishing industry despises lost fishing gear as much as we do and the fishers here are very rarely at fault. It is costly to them to lose gear and they will make every effort to get it back, but sometimes they can’t. That is where we come in, to try to help. Everyone wins, most of all the environment. You can’t ask for much more.
 |
“Scottish Skipper expo gave us a fantastic opportunity to meet so many people in the fishing industry, all of whom were highly supportive of our work and wanted to help us in any way they could. This has opened so many opportunities for the charity and our wish list which has been on the slow burner for the last 7 years, was exceeded in just 3 days. We came away from the events exhausted, elated, humbled, grateful and most of all, excited,” said Christine Grosart.
Operations Officer, Fred Nunn, drove from Cornwall to attend the awards and the exhibition in Aberdeen. He said, “What a crazy and amazing few days up in Scotland! It was awesome to meet such a variety of different people throughout the industry, who are all looking at different ways of improving the sustainability and reduction of the environmental impact of the fishing industry. It was exciting to have so many people from the fishing industry approaching us to find out more about what we do, but also what they could offer. Fishermen came to us with reports and offers of help, using their vessels and other exhibitors tried to find ways that their product or service could assist in our mission.”
Ghost Fishing UK uses hard boat charters from Cornwall to Scotland for the diving projects, paying it forward to the diving community. The team relies on reports of lost fishing gear from the diving and fishing community and to date has received well over 200 reports, culminating on over 150 survey and ghost gear recovery dives, amounting to over 1000 individual dives and diver hours by the volunteer team members. The team is heading to Shetland for a week-long project in the summer of 2023.
Chair of Ghost Fishing UK and professional technical diving instructor Richard Walker was immensely proud of the team’s achievements. He said, “I’ve been a scuba diver since 1991 and have met thousands of divers in that time. I’d be hard pushed to think of one of them that wasn’t concerned about conservation of our marine environment. To be recognised by the fishing industry for our efforts in sustainability is a huge honour for us, and has encouraged our team to work even harder to find, survey and remove lost fishing gear from the seas. The fact that the fishing industry recognises our efforts, and appreciates our stance as a group that wants to work alongside them is one of the highlights of our charity’s history, and we look forward to building the relationship further.”
 |
 |