Fishermen’s Kisses

We’re very happy to announce the winners of our Fishermen’s Kisses competition!

FISHERMEN’S KISSES – THE FILM

Please watch the short film about our winners below:

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

The competition was looking for solutions to the problem of the small pieces of net that are often blown, washed or lost into the sea while fishing nets are being mended.

Fishermen's Kisses
10,000 Fishermen’s Kisses collected in just a few visits to a single beach in SE Cornwall

Although each piece is tiny they are one of the commonest items by far of marine waste found on our beaches.

THE WINNERS OF FISHERMEN’S KISSES ARE:

The Winners of Fishermen's Kisses
Nicky Lapham and Jason Pascoe, who have been using a deck tarp while mending nets on their mooring

The winners of the two Elka Unlimited smock tops are Jason Pascoe and his sister Nicky Lapham. The couple were recently on the BBC documentary series ‘Cornwall: This Fishing Life’). Jason and Nicky keep their boat on a mooring on the River Fal.  They have been successfully trialling a tarp with a drawstring to trap net pieces while mending nets on board.

Jason said: “We’re glad to be doing our bit to combat the plastic waste problem in our oceans. We rely on the marine environment to source our income, so we are looking out for our future in doing this.”

The winner of the Waterhaul sunglasses, made from recycled net, is French student Maëlisse Audug. Maëlisse has invented a net-collection pouch called ‘sacabout’, which can be worn while mending nets.

Maëlisse Audugé from Brittany
Maëlisse Audugé from Brittany, who developed this ‘sacabout’ pouch for fishermen to use while mending their nets

Maëlisse is studying fisheries and environmental management at the Le Guilvinec Maritime College in Brittany and came up with the idea after realising what a huge, yet avoidable, problem this is. She focused on this as a special project after doing a beach clean in which she found that 64% of the items on the beach were fishermen’s kisses!

GIVING IT A TRY

Would any of our local fishermen here in Cornwall be prepared to try out a pouch like this?

Let us know if you are interested in giving this a go We can try to set you up with one and it would be great to get some feedback.

THE RUNNERS UP OF FISHERMEN’S KISSES ARE:

Our runners up are James Batty and Lisa-Jane Richards, who will receive the two beanie hats.

There is a special runner-up prize for nine-year-old Lola Wilson, who was inspired to draw a great design for a net trapping bag. Lola will receive an RPBC refillable water bottle.

Lola Wilson
Lola Wilson, age 9, in the pink jacket, out collecting fishermen’s kisses from a very windy Perranporth beach.

Thank you so much to everybody who took part. Currently there is nearly 3,000 of you who viewed the film. Please keep sharing. 

Fishermen’s Kisses hopes to have raised awareness among the fishing industry. 

Fishermen’s Kisses can also be viewed on YouTube 

Give it the THUMBS UP!

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