CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH MARINE CONSERVATION
PROTECTING VICTORIA'S MARINE BIODIVERSITY
Project: SEA-CLEAR
LINE FREE PIERS
Project Sea-Clear tackles one of the most visible and harmful forms of marine debris around Port Phillip Bay piers: discarded fishing line, hooks, sinkers and related litter.
Aquaholics trains and mobilises volunteer divers, snorkellers and shore-based helpers to identify litter hotspots, remove debris safely, record what is collected and share data with relevant monitoring programs and land managers.
The project also aims to engage pier users and anglers in better disposal practices to reduce future wildlife entanglement.
This project is currently unfunded, though grant applications have been submitted. We welcome recommendations or expressions of interest for funding to help keep it going & growing!
Partnerships for the project include:
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Aquatic Adventures, who provide dive professionals for safety management of these activities, as well as emergency response equipment.
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Tangaroa Blue, with whom Aquaholics is partnering to provide data towards their ongoing tracking of marine debris.
Why it matters:
Discarded fishing line, hooks, lures, sinkers and other pier debris can continue causing harm long after they are lost. Fishing line can entangle wildlife, damage habitat, create hazards for divers and snorkellers, and accumulate in areas where recreational fishing and marine life overlap.
Project Sea-Clear matters because it removes these hazards from underwater environments while also recording what is found. By collecting debris data as well as rubbish, Aquaholics helps turn clean-up activities into useful evidence that can support prevention, education and better management of high-use coastal sites.
What we collect/remove:
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Fishing line
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Hooks & lures
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Sinkers
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General marine debris & litter
How the data is used:
Through Project Sea-Clear, Aquaholics records the debris we remove using Tangaroa Blue’s Australian Marine Debris Initiative framework. This means our underwater clean-up data can contribute to a broader national picture of what is being found, where it is accumulating, and which debris types are most common around marine and coastal environments.
Recording debris helps turn clean-up activity into useful evidence. By identifying patterns and likely sources, the data can support education, prevention, policy discussions and source-reduction efforts aimed at stopping rubbish from reaching the ocean in the first place.
Up-to-date totals can be seen on our Impacts page