01/12/2025
Can you see what is very wrong in this picture?
This has unfortunately become quite a normal sight to see in our modern world. Look closely at what this Gannet is carrying in it's beak. This beautiful bird, which is the largest of our seabirds has unwittingly picked up some plastic with plant material. Plastic fishing nets are often discarded into our Seas for several reasons, and our left drifting through the water still catch fish and mammals as they disintegrate. This expert fisherman is gathering material for it's nest high up on the island of Little Skellig or Scielg Bheag. This small rocky island off the South West Kerry coast is home to approximately 60,000 to 70,000+ birds. Each nesting bird collects material like this and you can clearly see each nest has plastic in it forming a green/blue colour.
It's not only the birds that ingest the plastic, fish eat the plastic waste too thinking it's a creature of some kind. Which in turn we catch the fish then eat them putting plastic residues in our bodies also. Plastic does not rot away like plants do, it just gets smaller and smaller and turns into microplastics that are impossible to remove.
It is estimated that 10 - 30% of marine plastic pollution comes from Ghost Gear or discarded fishing gear.
Potential Solutions:
Biodegradable or traceable fishing gear.
Stricker port - waste rules make it cheaper to discard old gear.
Monitoring & enforcement. Satellite tracking the gear.
Support for small scale sustainable fisheries.
End Overfishing ,
Ban Supertrawlers,
FISH BETTER!
