Supporter rescues entangled dogfish
2 minute read
We hear from one of our supporters about how he was able to film his struggle to free a dogfish trapped in plastic fishing line off the Welsh coast.
Ged Seddon, an amateur diver from Merseyside, was returning from a dive off Porth Llechog Bull Bay on the northern coast of Anglesey when he saw the stricken dogfish in the water. “It was very distinctive because it looked like a mini shark,” he said. “It attracted my attention because it was keeping very still and lay vertically - rather than horizontally - in the water. It was only when I swam closer to it that I realised it was in distress, because it started thrashing around.”
Ged, the dogfish liberator
Credit: Ged Seddon
I wanted to use some surgical scissors that I carry in my drysuit especially to cut through discarded lines. But I couldn’t get them without disturbing the fish on my arm so instead I used my knife to cut through the plastic.
Initially he approached the stricken animal cautiously, fearing it might bite. But it wasn’t long before it stopped wriggling and came to rest on his arm. “It was almost as if the fish knew I was trying to rescue it and became semi-tranquil in the process,” he said. “My previous experience of cutting through fishing line tangles was invaluable,” said Ged who said he overjoyed once the fish had been freed and was able to swim off into the deep.
The problem of discarded fishing lines – and fishing nets - is huge off the coast of the UK, Ged pointed out. “I’ve regularly seen boats whose propellers are snagged up,” he said, “and it’s something we urgently need to address.” He believes involving various stakeholders and working with all concerned parties in a collaborative way to find a solution is the best way forward.
I like the solutions-based approach of the Marine Conservation Society to issues such as this. If we work together with fishermen to resolve the problem, that must be best. After all, fishermen have as much right to enjoy and use the sea as I do.
