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Hong Kong volunteers show war on marine pollution knows no borders with joint effort in the Philippines

South China Morning Post

發布於 2019年08月24日09:08 • Fiona Sun
  • Group of 10 led by veteran diver hunt ghost nets which ensnare aquatic life
  • They spent a week in Talisay City sharing experiences and working with local NGO
Hong Kong volunteers led by veteran diver Harry Chan (middle in blue) join hands with volunteers from the Philippines. Photo: Eric Lee
Hong Kong volunteers led by veteran diver Harry Chan (middle in blue) join hands with volunteers from the Philippines. Photo: Eric Lee

A group of Hong Kong volunteers have shown that the war on marine pollution has no borders, as they flew to the Philippines to join locals in the fight against the ocean's silent killers " ghost nets or abandoned fishing nets that ensnare aquatic life.

The group of about 10, led by veteran diver Harry Chan who has been hunting ghost nets in Hong Kong waters for five years, spent a week from July 24 to 30 in Talisay City in the Philippine province of Cebu, retrieving underwater ghost nets and sharing their experience with local divers.

Ghost nets are a major problem in the world's oceans. Photo: Jesse James Tiu
Ghost nets are a major problem in the world's oceans. Photo: Jesse James Tiu

"Ghost nets are not a problem limited to Hong Kong. It is a global issue," Chan says.

These are fishing nets lost or abandoned in the ocean. They are left tangled on rocky reefs or adrift at sea, trapping fish, dolphins, sharks and other creatures, often leading to their death.

The UN estimates that there are roughly 640,000 tonnes of ghost nets in the world's oceans, accounting for 10 per cent of total plastic waste in the sea.

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In Hong Kong, ghost nets, along with other abandoned or lost fishing gear including lines and hooks, are on the top 10 list of most commonly found marine litter, according to a 2016 survey by global conservation body WWF.

Talisay City in the Philippines used to be a popular fishing destination. However, the rise of illegal activities " such as dynamite fishing or using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection " has caused their number to drop as habitats, such as coral reefs, are destroyed.

Filipino volunteers retrieving a ghost net. Photo: Jesse James Tiu
Filipino volunteers retrieving a ghost net. Photo: Jesse James Tiu

Years of fishing has left the waters with large numbers of abandoned nets. As such, members of Sea Knights " a Cebu-based non-profit organisation dedicated to marine environmental protection " have been regularly carrying out ghost net retrieval operations and reef clean-ups since 2005.

They claim to recover ghost nets up to 50 to 80 metres long, mostly entangled on coral reefs, every week.

The group learned about Hong Kong's ghost net hunters " such as Harry Chan " online, and invited them to a joint effort to clean up the waters in Talisay.

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"We invited them to generate awareness about our initiatives and clean-up activities around the globe," Jesse James Tiu, a diver and volunteer of Sea Knights, says.

The volunteers from both sides jointly carried out six clean-up dives over a week. In one particular dive, they retrieved about four large ghost nets measuring between 20 metres and 50 metres in length, Tiu says.

Divers removing ghost nets from a coral reef. Photo: Eric Lee
Divers removing ghost nets from a coral reef. Photo: Eric Lee

They also held conferences, sharing ghost net hunting experiences and seeking solutions to tackle the issue, such as how to surgically cut open nets to avoid hurting corals, and raise them up using empty water bottles as floaters.

Chan, with 30 years of diving experience, attributes the problem of ghost nets partly to a lack of education among fishermen.

To tackle the problem, Sea Knights volunteers have been educating local fishermen on the harmful effects of ghost nets to marine life. They also teach fishermen to dive to make them more aware of the issue, and find work as tour guides to boost the local eco-tourism industry.

"I'm impressed by their motivation. They teach local fishermen how to dive for free," Eric Lee, a dive instructor from Hong Kong, says.

Hong Kong diver Eric Lee (third from left, standing), Harry Chan (fourth from right, standing) and Filipino diver Jesse James Tiu (first from right, standing) among the group who conducted a joint effort in the Philippines. Photo: Eric Lee
Hong Kong diver Eric Lee (third from left, standing), Harry Chan (fourth from right, standing) and Filipino diver Jesse James Tiu (first from right, standing) among the group who conducted a joint effort in the Philippines. Photo: Eric Lee

During their overseas clean-up trip, Hong Kong volunteers also met Talisay City mayor Gerald Anthony "Samsam" Gullas Junior and vice-mayor Allan Bucao.

Tiu says with the help of the volunteers from Hong Kong, the local government and the people in general now pay more attention to the issue. The government is seeking the volunteers' recommendations on how to preserve the reefs, he says.

"It has been a game changer for our cause. We are grateful to them for such spirit of volunteerism."

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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