Underwater clean up and litter survey takes place at north Mayo pier
Clean Coasts was delighted to join this year’s Western Dive Rally at Kilcummin Pier on Saturday, August 8. Hosted by the Gráinne Uaile Sub Aqua Club and Search and Recovery Unit, the event welcomed diving enthusiasts from all across Ireland.
More than 160 people attended the event, with Clean Coasts in attendance to promote their long running coastal programme and joined forces with Diving Ireland to conduct an underwater clean-up and litter survey during this rally event.
The joint effort focused on identifying and removing submerged marine litter through 'Free Litter-AT', an EU INTERREG project dedicated to reducing marine litter and fishing-related waste. Clean Coasts, operated by An Taisce, collaborates on the project alongside international partners from France, Spain, Portugal, and Madeira.
The survey and clean-up at this event also served as a pilot action to establish standardised best practice guidelines in underwater clean-up operations.
Olivia Jones, Clean Coasts Coordinator for the Northwest Region said: "Targeting marine litter below the surface requires specialised skills and coordination. By partnering with Diving Ireland and our European INTERREG partners, we are building practical tools and guidelines that will allow dive groups to safely and effectively protect their local marine environments."
Free Litter-AT is an INTTERREG Atlantic Area project aimed at advancing towards litter-free Atlantic coastlines, by utilising knowledge, tools, technology, and engaging stakeholders in litter prevention, recording, and removal where possible. The Free Litter AT ‘Underwater Litter Survey’ aim is to identify common types of Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), identify potential locations for pilot removal operations, develop best practice guidelines and feed data into marine litter simulation models being developed by the project.
To find out more about Clean Coasts and Free Litter-AT please visit here and here.
People can also find out further information by emailing Olivia Jones at ojones@eeu.antaisce.org