A volunteer group of divers and Pender Harbour residents are taking a plunge to improve the waters around Pender Harbour.
The Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association in conjunction with SeaWolf Diving and the Ocean Legacy Foundation will be pulling abandoned “ghost” fishing nets from the waters along with batteries, plastic and other pollutants from the water today and tomorrow.
The project was authorized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the association says it is one way to show that the people who live in the area care about the environment.
“These materials have been abandoned on the ocean floor for many years in the past when there was much less concern for our environment,” said the association.
“The attitude has changed in recent years and whales, dolphins, herring and other sea life are increasingly frequenting our harbour.”
The materials will be pulled up from the seafloor by SeaWolf Diving. The association adds they will be collected and taken to the future site of Pender Ocean Discovery Centre at Irvines Landing for sorting.
Debris and materials will eventually be shipped to Richmond to be recycled by Ocean Legacy.
