Churchill Fellowship for Ghost Buster

2007-07-04

2007-07-04

As the Project Facilitator for the Carpentaria Ghost Net Programme for just on 2 years now it became evident to me that there was a need to address a couple of major concerns regarding Ghost Nets in Australia. Those concerns for me were,
• What do we do with the nets once we have collected them?
• How do we remove them from the remote areas where they are found?
• How do we get the greater community involved and especially industry?
• How do we identify who is using the nets we are finding? and
• How do we secure permanent funding?

Faced with this, I thought to myself, how do I find out if anyone else, somewhere, someplace, anywhere, has these same challenges? Maybe they even have some of the answers?

So, late one night I plugged myself into the World Wide Web via my computer and I searched for information regarding who else or what other countries had similar problems. What I didn’t want was just to find someone with the same problem.

I needed to find someone who might have some of the answers and who had been cleaning up ghost nets for a while. I wanted to find someone who was experienced and who was using innovative methods and of course someone having some great successes.

After some time I discovered that the best programme I could find was being undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in America. They had Marine Debris projects in Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska and had some other great initiatives happening. After contacting some of the people involved and after finding out what they were doing, it became obvious to me that this mob, (who had been at it since the late 90’s) was making good progress and were faced with many of the same circumstances as we were.

For example, like us they were dealing with debris that was washing up in remote locations, they had similar issues relating to currents (a Gyre) that keeps nets circulating like we have in the Gulf of Carpentaria and they even had to respond to cyclonic type events.

The most exciting thing they were doing was the way they were recycling the nets and other marine debris. In Hawaii for instance they burn the nets in power generation plants. 100 tonne of marine debris can power 44 houses for a year! How’s that! They also had some great partnerships developed with industry, Government, fishermen, the wider community, traditional elders and volunteers to get these nets off the coastline or out of the ocean.

After speaking to some of the main players in America, I soon realised that I just had to go over and see for myself what they were doing. I wanted to see how (if at all) the activities that were being undertaking overseas could benefit us here in Australia in our fight against Ghost Nets.

One small hitch though. How do I fund a study tour so I can visit these places and see first hand what they were doing to tackle the problem of Marine Debris? It was then that I recalled a friend of mine was in a similar situation to me once and he had applied for and had received a Churchill Fellowship which assisted him with his overseas study arrangements.

The Trust, established as one of Sir Winston Churchill’s last requests, provides annual Fellowships for Australians to travel overseas to experience new opportunities and make contacts with the best in their fields and then bring that knowledge back to benefit Australia.
So I plugged in my trusty computer once again, I searched the World Wide Web, I found an application form, I filled it out and then I sent it off. After being called in for an interview in Brisbane, I waited, I waited, and I waited and then it finally came, the news I had been waiting for, at last here was the decision and ……….. Yahoo (Oops did I say that) to my delight, it seems I am one of the 117 people chosen to be awarded a Fellowship for 2007!

This Fellowship will assist me with the resources to allow me to go and have a first hand look at what these other mobs are doing and for me to bring this knowledge back to our Programme.

Working for the Carpentaria Ghost net Programme has been a fantastic experience for me. The best part of the journey for me has been the days when I am able to walk on country with my ghost net clean up mobs and the way we use this time to exchange knowledge with each other. I have learned a lot from my Indigenous brothers and sisters. In turn I hope they have learned a lot from me.

This study tour will enable me to gain even more Knowledge to share and pass on to you all. One thing for sure, it will be some of the best knowledge about ghost net removal and recycling available in the world today.

Kind regards to all of you and a big thank you to all of the clean up mobs for you effort so far.

Gary