#FishingForLitter #OurOcean #ReadyToChange#BIMNetEffect

A BIM Sustainability Initiative:

FISHING FOR LITTER

03

PVC

05

PP

GhostGear

WHAT IS MARINE LITTER?Marine litter is waste created by humans which is discarded, disposed, discharged lost or abandoned and ends up in the coastal or marine environments. There are many sources of marine litter. Between 60-90% of marine litter made up of di� erent plastic polymers. The di� erent polymers are communicated in the little triangles found on plastic packaging.

WHAT IS FISHING FOR LITTER?Fishing For Litter (FFL) is a voluntary scheme that was launched in Ireland in 2015 that engages fi shermen to retrieve marine litter while at sea. Participating fi shermen are provided with large hard-wearing bags to keep on-board their vessels, with the intention that any marine litter brought up in their hauls will be kept in the FFL bag rather than discarded back into the sea. When full, FFL bags are landed on the quayside where they are moved into a designated FFL skip by harbour sta� . There the marine litter is ready for safe and responsible disposal by approved waste contractors.

BIM also have a sampling programme to monitor and record the marine litter. The types of marine litter collected at sea give both BIM and the participants an idea of the sea or land based sources, geographical origin and potential pathway into the sea. This is an important reason to keep FFL separate.

FFL HAS A NUMBER OF AIMS:

1 Directly remove marine litter from the sea

2 Investigate the sources of marine litter by monitoring samples coming ashore

3 Investigate and support ways to reduce the seafood sector being a source of marine litter

4 Improve on-board waste management practices whilst out at sea

5 Increase awareness amongst the fi shing industry about the impact of marine litter on the marine environment

6 Collectively share and report the commitments of the catching sector to support marine litter reduction

03

PVC

01

PET

04

PE-LD

02

HDPE

MILKK

WHY SHOULD I REGISTER FOR THE SCHEME?1. FFL gives an opportunity to fi shermen

to participate and to be part of the solution to reduce marine litter in the environment.

2. It provides an opportunity to raise a positive profi le of the catching sector, so please encourage crew to take photos of marine litter or unusual items either during the trips or when you have landed the bags when appropriate and safe to do so.

3. A vessels participation can be recorded and be used in BIM’s certifi cation programme.

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?There are 12 FFL ports in the network, all of which have a harbour master or contact point (see map). They have the FFL heavy duty bags ready for collection. Contact must be made before putting the FFL on the quay for e� cient collection and appropriate disposal. Marine litter brought ashore by Fishing For Litter will be accepted at any of the ports. It’s a national network.

WHY DO YOU WANT MY DETAILS?BIM are often asked for numbers of participating vessels, ports and volumes of marine litter collected. Facts and fi gures improve the reporting of the catching sector’s role in reducing marine litter and plastics in the ocean.

WHAT CAN I PUT IN THE BAGS?The FFL bags are only for marine litter generated by others, but found by your vessel at sea. Items that can be put in the bag include ghost nets, plastics and polystyrene, metals, wood, rubber and textiles.

WHAT CAN’T I PUT IN THE BAGS?No Hazardous ItemsPlease don’t put drums of fl uids, chemicals, oil and hazardous items such as batteries into the bags as these are considered ‘special waste’ under waste regulations and your harbour will have special collection points for those items.

No General WastePlease don’t put general vessel waste in the bags. Ordinary galley and operational waste is disposed of through existing procedures and requirements of the harbour being landed to.

No Own Gear Please don’t put your old nets or fi shing gear into the bags. BIM have a net recycling programme that can take both retired and clean cut o� s. Contact Myles Mulligan on 087 2890785 for more information on how to prepare your gear for recycling.

OrganicFood

84

C/PAP

FISHING FOR LITTER IRELAND – REGISTRATION FORMYou can register by completing the form. Return to fi shingforlitter@bim.ie or 087 2897651.

You can take a photo of this completed form and submit it by:

Text Email Post

Boat Name:

Reg No.:

Skippers Name:

E-mail:

Mobile:

Date:

Privacy Statement We guarantee that all the information that you provide us will be securely processed in full compliance with European and national legislation. The information that we collect from you will be exclusively used for the purpose of communicating to you as a member of the FFL, responding to your requests/inquiries and improving our services. For further details regarding how your data will be used, please consult our Privacy Policy available at http://www.bim.ie/privacy

22

PAP

05

PP

01

PET

CHECK LIST FOR WASTE

& MARINE LITTER

DO DON’TDo put the following in the FFL bags

Any marine litter found at sea which could be:

Ghost gear

Beverage containers

Any or types of plastics

Rubber

Textiles

Metal

Don’t put the following in the FFL bags:

Your galley waste

Your clean net cut o� s

Your retired gear

Don’t put Special Waste categories in that need to be handled carefully such as:

Oily drums Oily rags

Air/water fi lters Batteries

Ask you harbour master about any of the above items for safe disposal.

What waste material does the harbour accept?

What special waste categories are accepted?

Collect a FFL bag from the harbour contacts

When and where can you access the waste compound

Let the harbour master know you’re coming

Make a record of landed vessel waste and marine litter

Take some photos

SDG 14:FFL helps prevent and reduce marine

pollution for life below water

Galway Ros a’ Mhíl Fishery Harbour Centre John Donnelly 087 2359735

Donegal Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre Martin Connell 074 9731032

Cork Union Hall Council Pier Garrett O’Mahony 085 8705996

Cork Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre Cormac McGingley 087 2155432

Cork Baltimore Council Pier Dermot Minihane 087 2351485

Louth Clogherhead Fishermen’s Association Seamus Connolly 086 8399902

Donegal Greencastle Council Pier Kevin Mc Neilus 087 7174724

Cork Kinsale Council Pier Quentin Ryder 021 4772503

Kerry Dingle Fishery Harbour Centre Nigel Collins 066 9151629

Waterford Dunmore East Fishery Harbour Centre Deirdre Lane 087 7931705

Dublin Howth Fishery Harbour Centre Harold McLoughlin 087 2348387

Wexford Kilmore Quay Council Pier Eoin O’Doherty 053 91 29955

Irish Ports

Killybegs

Ros a’ Mhíl

Dingle

Castletownbere

BaltimoreUnion Hall

Kinsale

Dunmore East

Kilmore Quay

Howth

Clogherhead

Greencastle