Press Release

THE CROWN ESTATE STARTS FISHING FOR LITTER WITH KIMO UK

20 May 2005

The Crown Estate is supporting KIMO UK’s ambitious Fishing for Litter programme. The initiative, which was launched today at Fishing 2005 by Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, aims to clear northern seas of litter by encouraging fishermen to take home the debris and detritus caught in vessel gear rather than dumping it back into the sea. By providing each volunteer vessel large bags to collect the waste and co-ordinating their quayside removal, the programme plans to make litter removal easy for the fishing vessels involved.

Following a successful trial involving two Scottish ports, Peterhead and Lerwick, the project is to be expanded to recruit a further 10 Scottish ports.

David Philip, Assistant Marine Environmental Policy Manager at The Crown Estate said: “We are pleased that this project is expanding around Scotland’s ports. Marine litter is a growing problem and we are very supportive of positive initiatives like Fishing for Litter that help reduce the social, economic and environmental impacts that marine litter has on our seas and coasts.”

The benefits to fishermen are economic as litter removal from nets, gear and propellers is costly and potentially harmful to the stocks that they fish. Litter removal from the sea has the added benefit of tackling some of the debris that would otherwise wash up on Scotland’s coasts.

Dr Carolyn Heeps, Head of Environment and Research for the marine estate at The Crown Estate said: “Fishing for Litter is an excellent way for us to work with the UK’s fishing industry in tackling the growing levels of litter in our seas. The project directly links with our existing support of the Marine Conservation Society’s Campaign for Clean Seas which has achieved great success working with coastal communities in tackling litter issues around the UK coast.”

KIMO will analyse the collected litter and gather information to determine any regional variations in marine litter. This will then feed into international pollution monitoring programmes such as the Oslo Paris Commission’s (OSPAR) Marine Litter Monitoring Working Group.

The project is funded through The Crown Estate’s Marine Stewardship Programme, and by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Executive, Aberdeenshire Council and Western Isles Council.