Residents of a Scottish island have voiced concerns after hundreds of plastic ties traced to a Donegal fish-processing company washed up on their shorelines.
The Sunday Times reports that those living on the west Scottish coast, including the islands of Skye and Eigg, say plastic ties emanating from a company attached to the Atlantic Dawn group have become a regular sight along their beaches.
Eigg resident Katie Miller said she had organised numerous beach clean-ups over the past year. “We find polypropylene straps in their hundreds, in various sizes and colours,” she said.
Straps identified with “Arctic Fish Processing Company” were traced to the Donegal fish processing company in Killybegs, added Miller. The plastic ties found on the Scottish coast are typically used to secure packs of frozen bait.
“There were so many of them that appeared last year, I suspect they went overboard accidentally during a storm on a fishing boat,” she said.
Craig Lovatt of tour guide outfit Eigg Explorers found similar ties in the Laig bay area of the island, and there were further reports from coastlines extending from Skye to Harris, Lewis and Mull.
Both the Marine Conservation Society and charity Keep Scotland Beautiful have expressed concerns about the risks posed by the straps, and all forms of plastic, to marine life.
Karl McHugh, chief executive of Atlantic Dawn, which owns Arctic Fish Processing, said the group was aware of the issue and had engaged with the state sea fisheries board Bord Iascaigh Mhara on testing alternatives.
For full story see https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/scots-tied-up-in-knots-over-plastic-straps-from-donegal-hitting-shores-c6gwsq3f2
Tags: