Dragging operations on Finnish coast started in May
Re:Fish project conducted the first dragging operation of the abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) on the 13–16th of May 2024, outside Rauma on the west coast of Finland.
The dragging was conducted by towing a metallic drag with hooks at the bottom behind the boat with a speed of 2 knots. Five defined areas, approximately 2 km2 in total, were dragged by crisscrossing each area.
Removed fishery related litter were mainly gillnets. A few pieces of hooks and lines, ropes, weight, and some net holders (plastic sticks to collect and release a gillnet) were also caught. One alive and another half-rotten fish were lifted with the nets.
Apart from the fishery related litter, also some plastic items, metal cans, and bones and skulls of sea birds were retrieved.
The retrieved gillnets were rinsed, straightened and their length and height measured, and mesh size and net knotting method recorded. The total length of retrieved gillnets was 1.85 kilometers. A surprisingly big number for such a small area. A preliminary examination of the retrieved nets showed that some of the nets were from 1980’s, and some nets had been used for winter fishing.
