Nearly 50,000 feet of Virgin Islands shoreline have been scoured for abandoned fishing gear and other trash in recent months, and more than 15 truckloads have been carted to Pockwood Pond.
But that’s just the beginning of the cleanups conducted by the VI-based non-profit organisation Beyond the Reef.
In recent months, the organisation has focused its efforts and resources on cleaning up the shores of the territory with the help and hard work of Commercial Dive Services.
The company provided boats, equipment and crew to re-move debris like nets, floats, ropes and traps from the waters and beaches.
Most Wednesdays since the start of the pandemic, the professional divers have spent the day attacking a new load of garbage. Much of it came from fishing vessels. But sometimes they find other items like toilet seats, helmets, headphones and galvanised roofing.
“We actively remove garbage on a weekly basis on a shoreline,” said Chris Juredin, one of the founders of BTR. “Presently our production is good. We’re able to move larger volumes. In time we’d like to remove [waste] from the deeper water.”
The organisation — which is funded by donations — hopes to increase its network of fishers who report nets and abandoned fishing pots. Members have been recovering ghost fishing pots and communicating with fishers who lost them.
“The fish pots continue to catch fish, which die in the pot,” Mr. Juredin said. “So it’s a never-ending cycle.”
Mr. Juredin hopes that collaborating with fishers on conservation efforts will help change the narrative, but he said there are many challenges to keeping the oceans clean.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any enforcement,” he said. “There are some really good people who care, but it’s a very big issue.”
Other projects
The cleanups are just one of Beyond the Reef’s projects. The organisation is also known for the dive sites it created by sinking “Sharkplaneo” sculptures and ships including the Kodiak Queen and the former Willy-T party boat, which was damaged in Hurricane Irma.
“The goal [of Beyond the Reef ] was to create something sustainable and something that can contribute to the community indefinitely,” Mr. Juredin said. “We thought by creating dive sites, people would donate money which would, in turn, go back to children’s swimming programmes.”
Each diver who visits any of the four dive sites Beyond the Reef has created gives $5, which goes toward funding swimming lessons.
Spreading the world
Education is also key for the nonprofit organisation.
“We need it to be part of the syllabus in the schools: something that involves marine biology,” Mr. Juredin said.
Last year, BTR also began tagging and studying sharks in conjunction with the United States-based nonprofit organisation Fins Attached.
Additionally, the group has partnered with the Association of Reef Keepers to help combat the spread of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
For the past 10 months, divers have been applying antibiotic paste, which some scientists say has proven to be 95 percent effective at stopping the disease on infected coral.
Mr. Juredin has lived in the VI for 25 years and began Beyond the Reef in 2017 with Kendyl Berna following hurricanes Irma and Maria. The two are now heading the cleanups.
Others involved in the creation of the dive spots include sculptors Drew Shook and Josh Wilson, and producer Aydika James.