Make fishers accountable for plastic waste, pollution and beach hazards.
Make fishers accountable for plastic waste, pollution and beach hazards.
The Issue
Hello everyone. My name is Piper and I am an owner of a young husky. On 30/08/2022 I was awoken by a phonecall from my partner who had taken her out on an early morning walk to beat the heat. Our dog had stepped on a fishing hook and it had embedded itself into the back of her paw pad.
We rushed straight to the vet and had to wait a few minutes for the vets to open. I have included a picture of her paw and the fishing lure so that you can see what we had to deal with. She had to be sedated while the barbed fishing hook was removed and her paw cleaned. She entered the vets at 8:30am and left at 13:00. The bill total was £105 after significant discounts. We were lucky.
I am here today to petition that both commercial and recreational fishers take responsibility for their equipment. This is not the first injury as a result of lost and discarded fishing equipment. There have been multiple accounts of wildlife being injured and killed due to disposed fishing debris and no one is deemed responsible. This shouldn’t go on and someone needs to be held accountable. With as little as is being done to combat marine pollution, much of which is due to commercial and recreational fishing, it is shocking how much of these practices are still being condoned. it is shocking how much of it is due to commercial and recreational fishing. I am hoping that this petition may be a step in the right direction with regards to fishing debris also known as ‘Ghost Fishing Gear’.
The WWF charity are asking that ‘[…]fishing gear designers and manufactures to innovate new, traceable fishing gear and for fishers to retrieve, if possible, and report any lost gear.’ And I hope that legal actions are taken in the future.
I would like to suggest that an ID number be assigned to every person and company who fishes. This would tackle the issue of ocean littering for both recreational fishers as well as commercial.
For recreational fishing I would suggest that the ID number be engraved on all lures and weights and for commercial fishing a metal clasp be attached to ropes used in nets and boxes.
This way we can trace the equipment back to the person who it belonged to. Often fishing gear is very expensive and recreational fishers are often very upset to loose expensive lures. If we implemented this system they would be able to retrieve their lures (as well as pay any fines regarding harm to wildlife, children or pets). By adding a fine to littering the ocean with fishing equipment we will be providing people with a reason to clear up after themselves better and go and search/retrieve their equipment more dutifully as it appears protecting the environment isn’t enough incentive.
It shouldn’t be ‘normal’ for a hobby to cause such devastation to the environment. Today it was my dog. Tomorrow it could be a swan, a fox, a dog or a child.
Additional research/sources:
General statistics:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/ghost-fishing-gear
Multiple cases where wildlife has been brought in to the SSPCA for injuries related to fishing debris:
https://www.scottishspca.org/search/node?keys=fishing
Greenpeace leaflet
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/25438/ghost-gear/
RSPCA advice and poster:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/litter/fishing
The Issue
Hello everyone. My name is Piper and I am an owner of a young husky. On 30/08/2022 I was awoken by a phonecall from my partner who had taken her out on an early morning walk to beat the heat. Our dog had stepped on a fishing hook and it had embedded itself into the back of her paw pad.
We rushed straight to the vet and had to wait a few minutes for the vets to open. I have included a picture of her paw and the fishing lure so that you can see what we had to deal with. She had to be sedated while the barbed fishing hook was removed and her paw cleaned. She entered the vets at 8:30am and left at 13:00. The bill total was £105 after significant discounts. We were lucky.
I am here today to petition that both commercial and recreational fishers take responsibility for their equipment. This is not the first injury as a result of lost and discarded fishing equipment. There have been multiple accounts of wildlife being injured and killed due to disposed fishing debris and no one is deemed responsible. This shouldn’t go on and someone needs to be held accountable. With as little as is being done to combat marine pollution, much of which is due to commercial and recreational fishing, it is shocking how much of these practices are still being condoned. it is shocking how much of it is due to commercial and recreational fishing. I am hoping that this petition may be a step in the right direction with regards to fishing debris also known as ‘Ghost Fishing Gear’.
The WWF charity are asking that ‘[…]fishing gear designers and manufactures to innovate new, traceable fishing gear and for fishers to retrieve, if possible, and report any lost gear.’ And I hope that legal actions are taken in the future.
I would like to suggest that an ID number be assigned to every person and company who fishes. This would tackle the issue of ocean littering for both recreational fishers as well as commercial.
For recreational fishing I would suggest that the ID number be engraved on all lures and weights and for commercial fishing a metal clasp be attached to ropes used in nets and boxes.
This way we can trace the equipment back to the person who it belonged to. Often fishing gear is very expensive and recreational fishers are often very upset to loose expensive lures. If we implemented this system they would be able to retrieve their lures (as well as pay any fines regarding harm to wildlife, children or pets). By adding a fine to littering the ocean with fishing equipment we will be providing people with a reason to clear up after themselves better and go and search/retrieve their equipment more dutifully as it appears protecting the environment isn’t enough incentive.
It shouldn’t be ‘normal’ for a hobby to cause such devastation to the environment. Today it was my dog. Tomorrow it could be a swan, a fox, a dog or a child.
Additional research/sources:
General statistics:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/ghost-fishing-gear
Multiple cases where wildlife has been brought in to the SSPCA for injuries related to fishing debris:
https://www.scottishspca.org/search/node?keys=fishing
Greenpeace leaflet
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/25438/ghost-gear/
RSPCA advice and poster:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/litter/fishing
Petition Closed
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Petition created on 30 August 2022