In June, both volunteer diving teams we work with in the Netherlands, kicked off their diving operations with Healthy Seas.
Ghost Diving, went back to the shipwreck they identified in 2018 as S.S. Trevier with 13 divers and recovered another 200KG of lost fishing gear while also releasing several trapped animals. They first dived at this wreck in 2013 and have since removed several tons of fishing gear from S.S. Trevier although there is still much more left to clean!
Wrakduikteam Zeester had 4 days at sea in June, rescuing several animals and removing 370kgs of trawler fishing nets from the wrecks of Votland, E3, Mainz and E16.
Ghost fishing is a severe threat to the ecosystem of the North Sea with a significantly negative impact on over-exploited fish species. In addition, large amounts of lost or abandoned plummets and hooks cause lead deposits that contribute to the pollution of the North Sea.
Wrecks provide excellent habitats for marine life, acting as a reef and providing shelter. At the same time, it is on wrecks that fishing nets get most often snagged. These two facts combined means that there is an increased possibility of finding trapped marine life around wrecks.
In 2019, thanks to 65 volunteer divers of Ghost Diving and Wrakduikteam Zeester, 3 tons of fishing gear was collected from the North Sea.
