MORE than 80 people rolled up their sleeves to tackle litter and abandoned fishing gear at a beach.
A new partnership between supermarket Morrisons and environmental charity Fathoms Free was launched at Tregantle in Whitsand Bay.
Around 50 bags of rubbish and several piles of lost fishing net and rope were collected by volunteers on the day.
The initiative will see the Morrisons Foundation donate more than £20,000 to fund clean-up dives at 12 known ‘ghost gear’ hotspots, including caves and beaches in the South West.
A network for collecting, storing and recycling nets will be developed with local fishermen, with the aim of preventing this gear from ending up in the sea
Around 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear comes into the world’s oceans every year - the equivalent of more than a tonne a minute, says World Animal Protection, which has founded the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). The dangerous debris is responsible for killing an estimated 136,000 whales, dolphins, turtles and seals globally each year.
The GGGI was created to drive economically viable solutions to reduce ghost gear. It aims to improve the health of marine ecosystems, protect marine animals, and safeguard human health and livelihoods.