6 Vehicles Help Rangers Remove Ghostnets

2007-06-14

Carpentaria Ghost Nets Programme Co-ordinator, Riki Gunn (pictured here with John Bethel, President of Northern Gulf Resource Management Group & Stuart Menzies) was delighted to accept delivery of 3 of the 6 second-hand 4WD Landcruisers purchased from Stuart Menzie of Townsville 4WD Centre. All six vehicles were funded through a grant from the Indigenous Land Corporation.

Many thanks to Stuart and his team for providing the vehicles at such good prices and donating their time to fit and drive the vehicles to Cairns & Karumba. Each vehicle is fitted with a hoist provided by Lindsell Hoists and a small winch provided by TJM off road accessories.

These vehicles are designed to help indigenous rangers in their efforts to collect marine debris and in particular, the silent killers which are the ghost nets. One of these nets recently was measured at 19km. needless to say, no vehicle could winch or hoist that monster up the beach but many of the smaller ones need the muscle of the 4WD power to get them clear of the shoreline.

Ghost nets are fishing nets lost accidentally or deliberately discarded by fishing vessels. The nets have become a growing environmental concern in north of Australia with over 60,000 metres of nets collected over the last 20 months by the rangers from 18 indigenous communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria & Torres Straits.

These first three vehicles, destined for Laynhapuy & Marthakal Rangers in the NT & the Napranum Rangers near Weipa, are on their way to Karumba from where they will go by barge to these communities. There are 3 more heading for Badu and Hammond Islands and Injinoo via Barge from Cairns.

As a spin off from these negotiations; Murray Lindsell Turner of Lindsell Hoists has arranged for an art exchange between his children’s local school in Victoria and the students of Numbulwar, NT – it is amazing how things extend out far beyond the original programme.

All the people associated with the Ghost Net project can be justifiably proud of the results of their hard work and one day we may see the Gulf free of these lethal floating environmental disasters.