Fishing and aquaculture to blame for a third of litter on island beaches, report finds

Fishing and aquaculture is to blame for nearly a third of litter recorded on Scottish islands according to a new report.

The Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading ocean membership charity, has launched its annual State of our Beaches 2024 report, highlighting the stark difference in pollution between mainland Scotland and the Scottish islands, where predominantly litter from fishing and shellfish-farming sources wash up.

There were 85,405 pieces of fishing and aquaculture gear collected this year by 749 volunteers across the islands, accounting for 32% of all litter recorded on the Islands. This compares to only 12% of litter from fishing and aquaculture sources making up litter recorded on mainland Scotland.

The Scottish Islands Federation supported the Marine Conservation Society in recruiting volunteers and running beach cleans to collect the data.

This data contributes to the charity’s dataset of over 30 years, allowing them to identify common litter items, sources and trends, and use this evidence to campaign for cleaner and healthier seas.

The charity ordinarily records every piece of beach litter across a 100-metre stretch of beach, from the hightide mark to the back of the beach. However, as the litter is so dense across some beaches in the Highlands and Islands, a ten-metre recording stretch was agreed in some places due to the sheer volume of litter.

Port Hanais, Tiree Marine Conservation Society

On one beach in particular, the same stretch of beach was surveyed three times in 2024 – over 1,500 items were recorded, with an average of 579 items per ten metres of beach.

Litter related to fishing and aquaculture work free from aquaculture structures or boats, often more frequently in stormy conditions.

Catherine Gemmell, policy and advocacy manager at the Marine Conservation Society said: “It’s really important that we understand the breakdown of litter across the UK.

“Thanks to the support of the Scottish Islands Federation, we now have data which clearly shows how different the litter is that’s washing up on the islands compared to mainland Scotland.

“We need the Scottish Government to work with industry to create solutions to this problem, which is harming marine life and spoiling our beautiful island beaches.”

Discarded rope, fishing nets and fishing net pieces can harm marine life. In recent weeks, there has has been a recent spate of entanglements of whales.

Since Christmas, the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) has recorded five humpback entanglements and one entanglement of a sperm whale, showing the real risks posed by ropes in the marine environment.

Vicki Last from the West Coast for the Scottish Islands Federation, said, “Given the high fishing pressures and the abundance of aquaculture activities in Scottish coastal waters it is not altogether surprising that litter from fishing, aquaculture, and shipping dominates over public-sourced litter in surveys from the Scottish Islands where population densities are low.

“By working with the Marine Conservation Society, the Scottish Islands Federation hopes to identify targeted solutions to reduce this type of litter at its source while also evidencing the scale of the problem that island communities must contend with – and their need for support to do so.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland is known for its stunning beaches, and we all have a part to play in protecting these special places from harm.

“Marine Litter is a shared global challenge which is why we continue to deliver new policy and legislation through our National Litter and Fly-tipping Strategy and Marine Litter Strategy to target the most problematic sources of litter, including improving the waste management of end-of-life fishing gear, plastic pellets (nurdles) and sewage-related debris such as wet wipes.

“We greatly appreciate the work of the Marine Conservation Society and the thousands of volunteers involved in beach cleans and litter monitoring throughout 2024.”