NEARLY two kilometres’ worth of donated fishing nets from Jersey will be reused in Ukraine as protection against drone attacks.
The nets were collected as part of a Marine Resources initiative, with a handover held at Howard Davis Farm and the Marine Resources Workshop at La Collette at the start of this month.
It followed the introduction of new sea fisheries regulations, which included a ban against the use of mesh sizes smaller than 100mm for commercial nets and 112mm for recreational nets.
Islanders who had nets they could no longer use due to the change were encouraged to donate them so that they could be sent to Ukraine and repurposed into “vital” anti-drone protection.
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said the country plans to equip another 4,000 kilometres of roads with such defences by the end of this year.
Fishing nets are among the materials being strung above roads and defensive positions to form aerial barriers that entangle drones or trigger an early detonation.
Jersey Fishermen’s Association chair Stephen Viney, was among those who indicated support for the Marine Resources initiative – noting that the JFA would “certainly” encourage those with surplus nets to donate them rather than dispose of them.
The Marine Resources team said: “The net handover went well, despite being a little quieter than hoped.
“Everyone who came along was positive about the idea and we ended the day with approximately 1,900 metres of donated net with a roughly 50/50 split between commercial and recreational donations.”
