Culloden and Ardersier councillor Trish Robertson marks 25 years of sea-cleaning initiative Fishing for Litter in hope project grows bigger and better in future years
A Highland councillor has shared her hopes that an initiative to help clean the sea from polluting waste can see more harbours across the Highlands involved, as it marked its 25th anniversary.
Fishing for Litter is a project launched in 2004 by KIMO International, a network of local governments promoting marine conservation.
Working in partnership with port authorities — currently ten across the Highlands, including Scrabster, Ullapool and Gairloch, and three in Moray — the project provides fishermen with builders’ bags, which they can fill with litter collected when they are out at sea. The bags are then picked up from the port upon their return to be disposed of.
Culloden and Ardersier Councillor Trish Robertson, who has been president of KIMO for two years, was in Peterhead earlier this month to mark the anniversary, as well as attending the organisation’s conference in Inverness this week.
She said she hopes for the initiative to grow further and expand to engage with more harbours and fishing boats,
“Fishing for Litter is a very active project, which has done a great deal of good, “ she explained.
“We have removed 8,500 tons of waste from the sea in Scotland last year, which is absolutely amazing — and the fishermen are reporting now that it's taking them longer to fill their bag, which hopefully means that there is less in there to pick up.”
The initiative works with around 500 boats across the UK and more in other countries on the North Sea, such as the Netherlands.
Although much has been done by the initiative so far, Ms Robertson said the hope is to include smaller harbours — saying she is hoping to include Nairn Harbour — as well as developing an effective recycling system for the materials recovered from the waters.
She added that KIMO is also interested in supporting local projects, such as the new marram grass conservation project at Nairn Beach.
Having been at the helm for two years, Ms Robertson said she is ready to conclude her mandate.
“It’s not been easy, but I have enjoyed it because I've learnt a lot and I have visited various places that I would probably never have gone to if I didn't have a reason for going there,” she said.
“It's now time for somebody else to take on the role.”
As a lobbying organisation, KIMO is active on various campaigns related to marine conservation and protection, among which is a recent call for action against PFAS pollution in the marine environment.