The Downbelow team along with our GoPro interns successfully removed another MONSTER net from the TAR Park today.
The 150+m long by 5m wide disaster smothered a huge shallow beautiful reef section on the North-West side of Mamutik Island & took 16 of us two dives to remove. The net was discarded by fishermen as it was snagged onto the delicate corals and unable to be retrieved from the surface.
Net fishing is illegal within the park but some unscrupulous fishermen still try to gain a quick & easy yield by floating gill nets close to the productive reef, however this will occasionally go wrong. That is when they leave their nets behind but the story doesn’t end there as it continues below the waves.
With the net continuing catching its unsuspecting prey underwater the cycle of death is endless with corals unable to feed, fish continuously caught becoming bait for other marine predators which as they feed become entangled themselves & sadly it goes on and on!
Whenever Downbelow Marine & Wildlife discover these ghostnets we act by reporting the incident to the local authorities then going the extra mile & removing them altogether with our experienced pro team a.s.a.p. with all of the costs covered by Downbelow.
To date we have removed more than 100 illegal nets from our local area!
Big thanks to everyone for joining in the battle proving that together we can make a difference.
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