 Momentum Gathers
In the past several years, new efforts have been launched to remove derelict
gear from Pacific waters, first in Puget Sound, then Hawai’i and California
(see Coast & Ocean, Autumn
2005). In Washington State, the Northwest Straits Commission engages the
public in reporting nets and fishing line and sends divers out to retrieve
them, sometimes hiring idled urchin fishermen for the job. Hawai’i’s program
is focused on removing gear that threatens coral reefs.
In California, the SeaDoc Society at U.C. Davis, supported by the Coastal
Conservancy and the Northwest Straits Commission, began the California Lost
Fishing Gear Recovery Project. Since May 2006, the project has cleared 11
tons of fishing debris out of the waters around the Channel Islands. The
work has been set back by California’s budget crisis, but Jennifer Renzullo,
one of the project’s lead divers, expects it to start up again this summer.
Renzullo says the SeaDoc program recruits volunteer divers to retrieve
recreational gear from fishing piers. "But when it comes to commercial
fishing gear, just because it’s so dangerous, we contract with merchant and
commercial divers." For that reason, when Lieber offered SeaDoc his
services, he was rebuffed. "We’re really appreciative of what Ocean
Defenders have done," says Renzullo. "But to be honest with you, it really
freaks me out. It’s just such a dangerous thing."
Still, Lieber continues his all-volunteer efforts, with success and, so far,
no casualties. He once led a dive to retrieve 800 pounds of fishing net off
the coast of Orange County that took six divers seven dive days spread over
three months. To clear out the 9,000 pounds of net draped from mast to sand
over the Infidel, 16 volunteer divers worked over 15 days, diving
to depths of 150 feet--50 feet deeper than any safe recreational dive.
"A lot of the time they were risking their lives," Lieber says. "They had to
pack pieces of the nets into float bags and send them to the surface." Had
the divers been caught up in the nets themselves, the bag would have pulled
them to the surface too fast, and they could have died from the bends. But
the project’s success motivated him to continue.
Even all-volunteer projects require money, however. Lieber estimates he used
only $5,000 in individual donations on the Infidel retrieval, but
the work would have cost much more if Watson had not already donated the Clearwater. No diver was paid. Lieber is currently applying for a grant
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to hire a
professional crew.
In 2007, State Senator Joe Simitian introduced a bill that would fund
efforts to prevent the accidental loss of fishing gear and also facilitate
its retrieval. Though the legislation passed by wide margins in both senate
and assembly, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it on September 30,
2008, pointing to the state’s budget crisis. Simitian brought the measure
back to the floor in the next legislative session, with Heal the Bay as
cosponsor and Californians Against Waste as supporter.
News reports of the Infidel project brought calls and e-mails to
Lieber from as far away as England, Denmark, and Spain, asking for help in
clearing out gear abandoned in Atlantic coastal waters. "I tell all of them
to do what I did," he says. "Round up all the troops you can, and get to
work on the problem. And make it a community thing. If we’re going to save
this planet, it means getting everyone involved."
One day, Lieber says, he’d like to go back to where it all started, and lead
an effort to pull out the junk left behind by the well-meaning
Streichenberger’s crew. "That will take a lot of money, and time," he says.
"But it’s a dream."
Judith Lewis writes about the environment from Venice, California.
| 
