The net, spread over about 50m, had been anchored to the bottom in about 17m at mean high water, rising 2m off the seabed.
Held down by weights and buoyed along its upper edge to keep it raised, it had clearly been laid deliberately rather than accidentally lost.
Although local regulations ban the use of nets in the Sound, the authorities had failed to remove this one. It lay too deep to threaten yachts or other pleasure craft, nor did it threaten shipping, being situated near the Sound’s Asia buoy, inshore of the channel leading into the River Tamar and Devonport Dockyard.
It remained a threat to divers, however, as it was in an area used mainly by local shore-divers for moderate-depth dives. Three months ago a diver swam into the net toward the end of a dive and struggled for 20 minutes before managing to free himself
Following the incident, the situation was reported to Plymouth’s Queen’s Harbourmaster with a request that the net be removed.
But with no official action forthcoming, experienced divers from the Plymouth Sound Dive Club (BSAC Branch 164) dived, marked the net and set about freeing it from various snags, cutting it into sections and raising it with the help of lifting bags. The net contained a rotting seal carcass as well as fish, crabs and remains of a cormorant.
The sections were pulled into one of the club RIBs and taken back to its base at the Mount Batten Centre. “The club believes that it has recovered the whole net, but divers should still be cautious when diving at West Hoe," said Plymouth Sound member Keith Hiscock.
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