Putting together a fleet of fishermen, oyster farmers and mussel farmers is vita! as a first line of defence from sea pollution. However, simple common sense would dictate that we plan for a second line of defence to protect the more vulnerable and precious areas, such as estuaries, oyster beds, protected zones, etc. It was with this thought in mind that we designed an adapted form of the THOMSEA net - a channel net. which can be fixed in position and which uses the force of tidal currents to collect heavy oil and debris arriving in an estuary. This net is held in place by stakes on each of the river banks (maximum 50 metres apart) and can collect up to 5 tons. The currents at high tide carry the waste to the filtering cod-end. which automatically closes when the tide goes out. thereby retaining the pollutant until the next tide comes in and the collecting process can start again.
