Divers in Cornwall decided that a fishing net snagged on a local wreck should be removed before visitors start descending on the area for the main British diving season.

A six-strong diving party headed out recently to remove a section of monofilament netting from the wreck of the ss Stanwood, off south Cornwall. The netting was about 15m long and 2m deep, with rope cords running along its length top and bottom.

The exercise was organised by Shaun Beedie, who runs the dive boat Redeemer and Falmouth's Bay Marine Diving and Leisure, and Colin Fairhurst of Penryn's Seaways Diving.

One of the divers, Neil Pope, told Divernet: "We cut one end that was snagged to the wreck and tied a delayed SMB to it... when it went up, it dragged a lot more of the netting off the seabed."

In viz reduced by the silty bottom, the divers then made their way to the other end of the net. "Tying this end to another delayed SMB, inflating then cutting, we effectively cleared the net away from the wreck so that it was just below the surface, indicated by the two delayed SMBs," said Pope.

It was then easy enough for the divers to return aboard the dive-boat and haul the net aboard.

There can be disagreement among divers on whether netting should be removed from wrecks. Some regard it as an unacceptable hazard while others regard it as an intrinsic part of a wreck's attraction.

Neil Pope's opinion was clear enough. Referring to the general pattern of wrecks draped in nets, he said: "If the viz is bad and a diver swims into the netting - well, I wouldn't like to imagine the situation," he said. "Surprisingly enough, nobody is accepting responsibility for/ownership of these nets".


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