Fishermen's rubbish costing Scots fleet up to £13m a year: SCOTTISH fishermen are losing up to £13 million a year because the sea is filling up with increasing amounts of their own rubbish, according to a new report. Catches are either increasingly contaminated or fishing boats break down because propellers are fouled, often on discarded fishing gear.
Marine pollution in Scotland - and the cost of dealing with it - has soared over the past decade, says the report. It found that marine litter costs the Scottish fishing fleet between £11.7m and £13m on average each year. The fishing industry as a whole is worth around £440m a year to Scotland.
The investigation, by the international local authorities' environmental group, Kimo, has shown that the cost of litter on coastal communities and marine industries has risen significantly in the past ten years.
The two-year research project shows that in some instances costs have risen by as much as 83 per cent, taking into account inflation.
Marine litter has a significant effect on the marine environment, but few studies have explored its economic impact.
The report said: "From the research findings, it is clear that the economic impact of marine litter on coastal communities in the north-east Atlantic region is considerable, with many industries significantly affected by marine litter."
The researchers also found that in 2008 lifeboat crews carried out 286 rescues to vessels with propellers fouled by litter in UK waters.
The report said: "The most frequently reported cause of fouled propellers was derelict fishing gear, which suggests that this type of marine litter can pose disproportionately high health and safety risks.
"Marine litter therefore continues to pose a significant navigational hazard to vessels in the North Atlantic, and while the safety of crew members is clearly the foremost concern in these situations, rescue operations involving the coastguard will also have financial implications. The rising trend in the number of rescues to vessels with fouled propellers is therefore of particular concern.
"Coastal agriculture producers experience a wide range of issues due to marine litter including damage to property and machinery, harm to livestock and the cost of litter removal. Marine litter cost each croft an average of £841.10 per year and the vast majority of these costs are incurred during the removal of marine litter, although harm to livestock and damage to machinery can result in high costs when these incidents occur."
Kimo's members include 150 local authorities in countries including the UK, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Poland and Russia.
The new report, Economic Impacts of Marine Litter, also highlights that while the economic impact of marine litter occurs at a local level, action to reduce it must be at the international scale.
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