The Civil Guard of the Maritime Detachment of Fuerteventura removed last November 11 a large trammel net, which reached approximately one kilometer in length by about 12 meters in mesh height, in waters between the island of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
The action was carried out in collaboration with the Department of Beaches and Environment of the City Council of La Oliva, Civil Protection and lifeguards La Oliva, Emerlan, and members of the surf schools deployed in the area of the discovery, who collaborated in its extraction.
According to the Benemérita, the net appeared at the end of last week near Montaña Roja, in the northeastern part of the coast of Fuerteventura. Apparently, the aforementioned fishing gear was dragged by the strong east winds of the currents originating from the fishing area of Morocco.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the coast of Fuerteventura, part of this mesh got caught on the seabed - about 10 meters deep - preventing it from reaching the coastline. Once the weather conditions allowed, the personnel of the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard deployed in the Detachment of Corralejo, established a direct coordination with the Department of Beaches and Environment of the City Council of La Oliva and Civil Protection in order to detach the net from the bottom and divide the gear into three pieces that would be removed aboard the Canal Bocayna patrol boat of the Maritime Service.
The Civil Guard was able to verify that specimens of the marine fauna of the environment were entangled in the gear (including angel sharks and old women who were immediately returned to the sea, transferring the first of the sections to the port of Corralejo aboard the patrol boat.
The other two parts of the trammel net, due to the great weight and the complexity of hoisting it on board as it was entangled, were towed in the afternoon of the 11th by two of the patrol boats of the Maritime Detachment, specifically the Canal Bocayna and S-36 to the so-called Alzada beach. Once on the coast, the personnel of the City Council of La Oliva (Department of Beaches and Environment, Civil Protection and lifeguards) and Emerlan took the net out of the water with the help of an excavator and a truck that transported it to a clean point.
Danger to navigation and marine fauna
The Civil Guard recalls that Royal Decree 2200/1986, of September 19, regulating fishing gear and modalities in the waters of the Canary Islands fishing ground, prohibits the practice of fishing with gill nets, and especially with the so-called "trammel net" of three walls.
In this regard, it indicates that due to the recent strong east winds and currents, in recent weeks there have been several fishing gears that have been found adrift in the waters of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. "These gears adrift pose an enormous danger to navigation as they can leave without control those boats that pass over them," he adds.
The Civil Guard explains that fishing gears abandoned in the sea are known as "ghost nets and that "they are the most lethal plastic waste for marine species", pointing out that "a high percentage of aquatic mammals, birds and sea turtles have suffered injuries or death as a result of being entangled". In addition, he points out that "the degradation period of these ghost nets can be hundreds of years". "The nets not only mutilate and kill fish, birds and other fauna, they can also damage marine habitats," concludes the Benemérita.
