Storm Arwen helped whip up some of the worst sea conditions in 65 years as a creel fisherman from the North East Scotland requested the help from our Ghost Diving UK North team to recover 400+ pots.

We made the first visit early December, at short notice only two divers were available and made the 6 hour journey north originally to carry out a survey but needed to strike while the sea conditions were favorable. After two days of hard graft our divers managed to recover 80 plus pots and masses of rope.

The situation was so dangerous that we decided to reschedule our planned team training and even cancel a Christmas dinner. The following weekend a team of 5 divers returned to continue recovering the lost gear managing to recover over 100 more pots and more rope.

This has been an amazing opportunity to work along side a creel fishing boat owner to get their equipment back. Not only is the equipment recovery vital for the fishermen’s livelihood, it needs to be out of the water as it poses a big danger not only to crustaceans but to seals dolphins and whales.

There are still 250 to 300 pots to recover, the team will be heading up at the earliest opportunity and is planning a 4 day visit this time hopefully to finalize and remove the hazard.

Chris Preston | Ghost Diving UK