The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) wanted to address the growing problem of marine animal entanglement in fishing gear which poses a real threat in Scottish waters. Becoming entangled in lost or abandoned fishing gear impairs an animal’s ability to breath, swim, feed and breed and can be fatal. Creel fisheries, using baited pots laid on the seabed to catch shellfish, are an important part of our inshore, and less commonly, offshore fishing sector. Unfortunately, it has been found that fleets of creels, with associated miles of rope, have been involved in accidental entanglements of mammals such minke and humpback whales and basking sharks.
Funding allowed SAMS to access specialized equipment needed to study where abandoned, lost or derelict creel fleets are located in Scottish waters and their associated risks. The creel map project’s aims were to evaluate different side-scan sonar (SSS) systems and on-site observations by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to assess whether they can detect and locate derelict creel fleets, an essential first step towards recovery. Several different methods were tested, and it was found that they could reliably use SSS to identify derelict creels and discriminate ground lines. Further work is needed to make the approach suitable for deeper waters.
“Having confirmed the ability of this approach to detect and observe derelict creel fleets, the door is now open for future work to better map and study this lost fishing gear. This will help us understand its role as a potential whale entanglement hazard and enable novel gear recovery techniques.” Dr Steven Benjamins, Marine Mammal Ecologist, SAMS
In 2023 SMEEF was able to provide grants totalling of £33,176 to support this work using resources from donations made by businesses to SMEEF.