NACC NRM is wrapping up the findings of their Keep Australia Beautiful Council’s Community Litter grant with key outcomes showing that the majority of marine debris collected was from historical pot fishing industry losses.
The project engaged Coastcare volunteers to report on fishing float numbers collected, with the results saved into a database to determine which fishery sector the floats were coming from and establish if debris had been lost or discarded recently, or a long time ago.
The database will be shared with WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development who will work with the fisheries industry to find ways to reduce loss of commercial pot gear. As the results indicate that a large proportion of the marine debris was lost long ago, NACC NRM will seek support for continued beach clean-ups to ensure historic debris is prevented from entering the food chain.
