Civilian sponsors Jeffrey June (center) and Will Nuckols examine a net pulled to the surface Tuesday by U.S. Army divers in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. – Photo by Celeste Flint
U.S. Army divers are currently undergoing specialized training in Puget Sound to learn a more efficient method of locating and safely removing submerged derelict fishing nets.
Divers from the 86th Engineer Team (Dive) of Fort Eustis, Va., and the 175th Transportation Co., an Army Reserve unit from Tacoma, Wash., conduct derelict gear surveys near Smith Island and Partridge Bank on the west side of Whidbey Island, and the Colvos Passage near Vashon and Blake islands.
The dive team staged at the U.S. Coast Guard dock at the Port of Port Townsend for the venture to Smith Island.
The surveying operations will provide important information on the extent of the derelict gear problem in the areas close to military bases - areas where the civilian natural resource agencies have never looked for derelict fishing nets.
"We're not removing it [derelict fishing gear]; we're surveying for future missions," said U.S. Army Specialist Eric Bailey, a diver.
This 26-day training exercise is part of the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, whose goal is to provide members of the military with real-world training missions that also support a local community's needs. In Puget Sound that community "need" is assistance in locating dangerous, lost fishing nets.
The diver training began with classroom instruction, a demonstration of derelict fishing gear removal methods at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Dive Center in Lake Washington, and two to three days of actual derelict gear survey operations in open marine waters around Puget Sound. Derelict fishing gear removal is a valuable skill for Department of Defense divers, since similar fishing gear is used worldwide and may be encountered in a future mission.
"This is a classroom for other places," Will Nuckols of NOAA said of the exercise.
Community partners
The Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC) is the civilian sponsor for the 2007 IRT training mission in Puget Sound. The NOAA Marine Debris Program has provided funding to support the NWSC's participation. NWSC professional divers will jointly conduct the training program.
The 2007 training mission includes 12 Army divers from Virginia supported by eight Army Reserve watercraft soldiers from Tacoma, who operate the LCM-8 "mike boat," which serves as the diving platform. The LCM-8 is typically used for shore landing operations but also serves as an excellent dive platform. In 2006 and 2007, the 175th Transportation Co. has supported a number of visiting dive teams, including Army divers from Virginia and Navy teams from Hawaii and California. All of these training missions have resulted in simultaneous enhanced mission readiness for the military and environmental improvements for Puget Sound.
Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing nets can be found throughout the world's oceans and are a particular concern in the waters of Puget Sound. Unless removed from the water, these derelict nets continue to attract, capture and kill marine organisms until the gear is buried by sediment or dissolves, which could take hundreds of years. The gear also poses a severe threat to navigation by fouling props and rudders, damaging vessels and making them unable to maneuver. Furthermore, the gear is a hazard to divers, who can become entangled in the nets.
The crew working Tuesday spoke of finding an old net about 100 feet offshore Lopez Island. Beneath it was a 3-foot pile of bones. University of Washington scientists later said it was likely that tens of thousands of birds had been caught and died in that net.
Diving around derelict fishing nets is dangerous work performed only by highly skilled divers. In recognition of the hazardous conditions, the dive team conducted a joint Army/Army Reserves/Navy medical airlift rescue-training mission during the mission's first week of diving.
In 1992, Congress directed the Department of Defense to look for innovative programs that would address the needs of American communities and provide realistic training benefits for military personnel. The Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program was created with the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act and is designed to leverage military resources and capabilities for the betterment of
civilian communities. The IRT program is a partnership effort between local communities and active, guard and reserve units.
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