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Are you a commercial creel fisherman?
Are you a commercial creel fisherman?
Interested in trialling negatively buoyant rope?
The Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) is a partnership of fishing, research, academic and NGO groups, working to together to better understand whale and basking shark entanglement issues in Scottish fisheries. SEA has been working closely with the Scottish inshore fishing industry to provide a co-ordinated, comprehensive monitoring and engagement programme to better understand the scale and impact of marine animal entanglements in our waters, and work towards developing strategies to reduce this threat.
SEA has been running trials of negatively buoyant rope in the Nephrops, crab and lobster creel fisheries, firstly in the Inner Sound and south Skye area, and more recently around the whole Scottish coast, to see if this change, which would remove the loops of rope between creels which can entangle whales and basking sharks, would be practical for fishermen. The project is a bottom-up, collaborative partnership with the fishermen involved, who have so far found negatively buoyant rope to be practical to use, in many cases preferring it to standard floating rope in groundlines.
If you are interested in joining the trial within Shetland or Fair Isle, please email ellie.maclennan@glasgow.ac.uk
Learn more about the trials in the 'Creel Deal' video below
Are you part of the pelagic fleet?
Are you part of the pelagic fleet?
We would be keen to bolster and collate sightings reports of any marine mammals seen whilst steaming out to fishing grounds, or during fishing operations. If you would like to contribute sightings, images or videos, you can submit them via the Whale Track App or to local Shetland sightings groups (see below), or, we'd be delighted to discuss directly how you can contribute to more detailed data collection.
Report your sightings to the local Shetland sightings groups
Report your sightings to the local Shetland sightings groups
Local people coordinate the local Shetland sightings groups (based on Facebook), where people post when they've spotted something interesting (including location, time etc.), which allows others to then go out and spot wildlife too! The sightings are collated into a database managed by Karen Hall, who submits the sightings for national monitoring efforts, and shares the data for relevant projects. The groups are interested in any sightings in Shetland waters, even far offshore, so please feel free to submit your sightings whilst out at sea!
Be part of Whale Track and report your sightings
Be part of Whale Track and report your sightings
Whale Track is the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust’s community sightings network, which includes a free smartphone app and website. Anyone can download the app and report casual sightings (for example, if you see whales whilst shooting your gear) or to log an at sea survey using ‘excursion mode’ which records the length of time and distance travelled. The App uses your phones GPS location to accurately track your trip at sea, without the need for WiFi or phone signal, and allows you to record the locations of sightings, (for example when you're travelling to and from your fishing grounds). Even recording no sightings during an excursion is valuable data, understanding where animals aren’t throughout the year helps build a more accurate idea of how these creatures are using our seas. Identifying hotspots is important but so is noting where species are seen less often.
Take photos of marine mammals
Take photos of marine mammals
As part of the BLUE CONNECT project, we are interested in analysing photos of marine mammals taken around Shetland for a number of reasons, including to contribute to photo-identification projects, and to look at scarring to understand past entanglements and interactions. If you capture any images or videos of marine mammals whilst out at sea, please consider contributing them to us, by emailing shetlandmarinemammals@outlook.com.
Come across an entangled marine mammal in your gear, or a dead animal at sea?
Come across an entangled marine mammal in your gear, or a dead animal at sea?
If you find a marine mammal entangled, injured or in distress, you can report this to BDMLR on 01825 765546 (24 hour line) or the Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999. For dead animals, report them to SMASS by phone 07979 245893 or email reports@strandings.org.
Banner Image Credit Emily Hague
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