SEATTLE - One less net is killing sea life in the San Juan Islands after a new effort to remove old nets from the Puget Sound hit the water Thursday.
A single buoy marked the spot in the water in Puget Sound. Beneath it was several hundred feet of net draped over a once productive reef - abandoned, but still deadly.
In addition to old nets, there is a tangle of fishing lines and strong wires underwater, which pose dangers to divers and marine animals -
"A lot of old skeletons down there,” said Doug Williams. “We freed some box crab.”
Six divers hit the water. Their mission: attach inflatable floats to the sunken net and bring it to the surface.
It is hazardous work. There are more than just nets under water. There is a tangle of fishing lines and strong wire, which is especially dangerous for divers.
The crew chief surfaced, tangled with line. It was a close call.
"It gets your heart going,” said Williams. “For a moment, it's ‘Oh, no!’”
With all divers accounted for, the crew tied a line to the net and hooked it to a winch on a fishing boat - the first catch of a government funded pilot project.
"We've promised to remove twelve tons of nets during the next year,” said Tom Cowan, NW Straits Commission.
It’s just a tiny dent in the miles of abandoned nets beneath Puget Sound. Thursday’s catch was evidence of the damage they do, now scattered on the deck and tangled in decomposing mesh.
