Oceans of filth
Grim harvest of Scotland’s polluted seas revealed as f lotilla of fishermen collect over 500kg of rubbish on just ONE trip
IT is the grim harvest of Scotland’s litter-strewn seas.
Piled on the harbour, a trawlerman shows off a mound of junk hauled aboard his boat in a single trip – rusty buckets and an old tyre, scraps of frayed ropes and torn nets, plastic bottles and bags.
Across the country, fishermen who have always been proud to haul in nets and lines heavy with haddock, mackerel, prawn and herring are appalled to now be landing record catches of trash.
But they are fighting back against the rising tide of rubbish – with a plan to have a fleet of 300 Scottish boats clearing the seas.
Vessels already signed up to the Fishing For Litter campaign routinely fill 500kg (half a ton) rubble sacks with detritus that has been removed from the water.
Faron McLellan, co-ordinator of the project, said: ‘We are way over target already this year. Since April 2018, we have landed 189 tons.’
Seafarers are given the sacks free and encouraged to fill them with the rubbish they find snagging their nets. Back in harbour, the sacks are dumped into skips for removal by local councils or specially organised collections.
Miss McLellan said: ‘It’s about taking plastic out of the sea, which is what everyone wants.
‘It breaks down into microplastics, which get ingested by sea life and end up in the food chain.
‘It also entangles wildlife – seabirds die of starvation because their stomachs are full of plastic.
‘The same with crustaceans, whales and dolphins – it’s frightening how much litter comes out of their stomachs. It’s really incredible, the damage that it can do.’
The Fishing For Litter initiative has been steadily growing since it began in 2005. But a special effort is now being made to increase the number of Scottish boats involved from 250 to 300.
Aberdeenshire fisherman Jimmy Buchan, who starred in the BBC1 show Trawlermen, has been gathering litter since before 2005.
He said: ‘We got into it at the beginning – we could see clear benefits to our ability to fish. It’s a bit like keeping your garden clean and tidy. I see the sea bed as no different. It is the place where we earn our keep.
‘If our catch and harvesting improves, then it’s happy days for everyone. But also we knew it was the right and proper thing to do.
‘We were learning that we had to become good and responsible stewards of the sea.’
More than 1,600 tons of rubbish have been landed in Scotland so far, with 19 harbours taking part, including Eyemouth, Dunbar, and Kirkcudbright. Twelve harbours in south-west England also take part.
Mr Buchan said: ‘The 500kg bags builders use to deliver sand, we get those free and can quite easily, on a bad trip, fill one.’
Over the years he has disposed of an astonishing variety of items.
He said: ‘We have picked up washing machines, televisions... years ago we picked up a lady’s wig, a beautiful blonde wig. The young lads took great fun in running around the deck wearing it.
‘I did at one time pick up a human skull. I handed it in to the police station. They assumed it was the skull of a young person, because it wasn’t a full adult skull.
‘I never heard much more about it other than they asked where we caught it, which was 150 miles into the middle of the North Sea.
‘But, generally, it’s plastic, bottles, packaging, general waste. When I was a young boy, all of the rubbish for Peterhead was put into the sea. We just thought that was where rubbish went.
‘The reason we went into this was that the litter affected our ability to catch fish. Later, we realised we weren’t just doing it for ourselves.
‘It’s been a relatively good success story. We have seen, over the years, that we are getting less and less waste.
‘Fishermen have come under a bit of criticism that they don’t always do the right thing. But far from it – we are involved in some very good initiatives.’
On March 21, Miss McLellan collected the Rural Awards 2019 Conservation and the Environment Award on behalf of KENO UK, which runs Fishing For Litter.
She said: ‘I was practically screaming, I was so excited.
‘Fishing for Litter was the reason we were nominated. What’s really positive is it’s completely voluntary. Fishermen want to do this.’
‘Sea-bird stomachs are full of plastic’