Derelict Fishing Gear and Diver Awareness of It's Hazards

[oldflounder]

I had started a thread previously on ghost traps. I want to expand it to include other lost fishing gear. The more I read about the problem the more it bothers me. Lost fishing gear - pots, nets, fishing line/lures - are not only trash and an eyesore, they can pose a serious hazard to us, if we are newbies especially, and not aware of what's beneath the surface. I do a lot of independent diving and am very cautious but it scares me what would happen if I drifted into a gill net in 10' viz alone. Last year I was diving off Ft. Adams/Newport, RI and I heard somewhere that we should be cautious of the lost gill net that was somewhere in the vicinity down the coast. I wish there was a way for us to post the location of these hazards on a board such as this. I was night diving a few months back and I came across a loose mooring rope floating partway up to the surface in front of me. I started pulling it down to see what was at the end of it and how long it was, out of curiousity. My hand hit something hard in the dark. It was an 8" long fishing lure with large triple hooks at each end. It was firmly embedded in the rope. I couldn't get it out. I can just imagine what would have happened if I had been swimming along and got my shoulder or back portion hung up on those hooks. Would I have had the presence of mind to saw through the 1 1/2" manilla rope or would I have panicked? I know this was pretty site specific and a report here probably wouldn't have done any good, but maybe a posting at the dive site might have. I went back the next time with wire cutters but the lure was gone - someone else must have found it. I know we all have horror stories and close calls to tell. How can we spread the word about these hazard sites???

 

[xjeslesx]

Whenever I come across an underwater hazard I do my best to get rid of it. If I come across fishing line with a hook I'll cut the hook off and make several cuts to the mono so I or anyone do not get wrapped in it. I'll cut pieces of gillnet or stuff it in my catch bag and dispose of onshore.
Best advise I can give it to watch where you are going and have two cutting tools on every dive. I carry a small dive knife and a set of trauma shears.

Good luck out there!

 

[porgyhunter]

Great posts!!!!!!!!!! I'am so glad to see other divers on the same page. Those lures are really scary, but you can be prepared. Trama shears are a must in addition to a knife. I carry heavy duty shears to cut though thick rope or wire leaders. If I see derilect rope etc I too cut it. Sadly a jetty off cap cod canal where I dive alot claimed a diver tangled in some derelect lobster ropes some years ago. O.W. should require some real training in these predicaments. KEEP CUTTING

 

[Gilldiver]

Nets, high test and steel leaders are what I always are looking out for. As for hooks, never, never slide your hand down a mooring that has been in the water for a while, always place your hand.

By sliding, you are just asking for a deeply embedded hook and a real nasty infection.

Ask me why I know this.............

 

[Bob DBF]

Unless I am out on a specific task, I carry a game bag to put crap I find along the way. If there were a deposit on monofiliment I would have made a small fortune by now.

Be carefull what you are playing with 'cause it can turn on you like a bad dog.


Bob
-----------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[pdive]

Best advise I can give it to watch where you are going and have two cutting tools on every dive...

and don't dive alone

 

[crlavoie]

I had a 1 in a million mishap a couple years back on the Poling. We were descending in pretty heavy seas, low vis and were really working hard against the current which remained stiff most of the way down. Staying close to the mooring line was a requirement. For those familiar with the poling, we were on the main stern mooring. At the connection between the buoy line and the bottom line (not sure what the right terms are but you know what I mean if you've been there), there was a something like a scotsman's rig with the weight dangling free on about 12" of mono, which I did no tsee at the time. I had about a 2 second pause and for reasons unknown to me, the weight managed to loop it's self around my primary hose as it boobed up and down in the sweels. A split second later, as the buoy rode up a large surface swell and I continued my descent, it ripped my reg from my mouth.

Being without my primary wasn't so much my immediate concern as the thought that my buddy directly above me, must have gone OOA. I was able to quickly stop my descent, pop my back up in and stabilize myself at which time I could see over my shoulder that my reg was tangled in this mess. Quite a surprise to say the least...

 

[oldflounder]

sucks --- I have a war story from a friend of mine that no longer dives, by the way - A few years ago he was scalloping in the Piscataqau River in Portsmouth, NH about 60' down by himself one day. It was a little dark and he was searching the bottom when a sheet of plastic or a small tarp came floating along the bottom in the current. It hit him in the face knocking his mask over his nose and dislodging his reg so that he had only a bite on it by one of the tabs. His arms were temporarily immobilized by the wrap. He was able to free his arms amd get himself re-established and re-oriented. Derelick gear -- underwater trash -- scary stuff!!!

 

[MASS-Diver]

Lots of this stuff out there. Always carrying a cutting tool. When I was a kid, I used to do a ton of freediving and each summer at least one of had a really close call with entanglement.