300m fishing net seen on Pulau Semakau (South), 23 May 2023

An approximately 300m-long fishing net was seen on Pulau Semakau (South) close to the Barammundi Asia fish farm there.

It had trapped and killed 14 sharks and other marine life.

Abandoned nets at Pulau Ubin (15 Sep 2018)

15 Sep 2018 - With Nature Society Singapore and Restore Ubin Mangrove Initiative, a group of passionate volunteers took part in the International Coastal Clean-up Singapore which took place at Pulau Ubin (Kampong Durian).  On this special day, many people around the world were also doing coastal clean up.  This site was designated for mangroves restoration.

When we arrived, a small group of us spring into action in search for abandoned nets which were seen during the last round but did not have sufficient time to remove them.  On the high shores,  there were no nets found as there were some contractors who were there before us and had help to remove 2 bags of nets together with many other debris. (No Photos).  As we comb around the surrounding, we chanced upon a net, it was entangled and well camouflage with seaweed.

More photos...we need to act fast as tide was rising.

We found some monofilament nets together with some nylon rope nets. We cut the nets up and separated them into a few bags as they were rather heavy.

Good news, there were no marine critters that were trapped in the nets collected.  Thanks to all volunteers who had contributed their time and endless efforts in helping to maintain our shores.

Abandoned net at Pulau Seduku (17 Jun 2018)

During a routine survey trip at Pulau Seduku, a small team chanced upon a half buried abandoned drift net. It was badly entangled and well camouflage with seaweed and one would have mistaken it for a chunk of seaweed washed up to shore.

While sorting out the net, we found a few thunder crabs. We wasted no time to have the crabs freed as tide was rising. They were badly entangled with the monofilament net.

A close up shot on how badly the crabs were entangled in the net.

Another shot...

The crabs were aggressive and kept wanting to strike back when we try to set them free. On the other hand, we were trying to be careful not to break any of their pincers and legs.

More photos of team helping to remove the net.

Throughout this episode,  we rescued a total of 3 thunder crabs a sea cucumber and good news was no pincers and legs were broken from these crabs. As the net was half buried and long, we decided to remove only those that were exposed and leaving behind the rest that are still buried.  Abandoned nets or ghost nets are a hazard to marine life as they kill after they are lost.

Thanks to the team who have helped out in this project and big thanks to Lisa Lim, Chong Siew Men and Adriane Lee for their photo contribution to this blog post.

Some abandoned net at Kranji (Jan 2018)

Some abandoned fish net trapped a few horseshoe crabs at Kranji Reservoir Park.

It didn't take us long to remove the nets. If only those who used the net just took the few extra steps and a few minutes to dispose of the net properly. Then animals will not be constantly trapped in the net.

Abandoned net at Chek Jawa (5 Nov 2017)

A small team came across an abandoned net on Chek Jawa during a routine survey.

The net was too large to remove for the small team. So it was left behind after documenting what was trapped. The presence of the net was reported to Ubin NParks on the same day. We hope they can arrange the removal of the net.

Abandoned nets on Pulau Semakau (18 Oct 2017)

It was a hot and crispy day with temperature soaring to 35 degrees.

After 3 months, we are back on this stretch of the shore for a site survey looking out for abandoned nets and collecting data helping to understand the impacts of abandoned nets affecting our shores.

Abandoned nets at Pulau Ubin (26 Aug 2017)

26 Aug 2017 - With Nature Society Singapore and Restore Ubin Mangrove Initiative. Volunteers helped in coastal cleanup and removal of leftover nets.  Some nets were found entangled with the roots of mangrove trees. Abandoned nets have always been a known issue for this area (Kampong Durian).

As the team combed along the coast, more nets were found. It was not easy to remove the nets, as some the nets were trapped among the rocks. Nevertheless, this did not hamper the team's effort to slowly remove the nets. Here's more on the operations that took place.

Abandoned nets on Pulau Semakau (1 Jul 2017)

Recently, a team of volunteers together with a few staff from Nparks did a site survey on Pulau Semakau for abandoned nets and collecting data on the net together with what is trapped in it.

The team split into 2 groups, each group helping to comb different sectors of the shore. One group who combed the mangrove areas found a few nets entangled with the mangroves roots.  One of the longest net found was about 25m in length. A horseshoe crab was rescued from it. Here's more on the operations that took place.

Huge abandoned net at Kranji (10 Mar 2017)

A huge net was abandoned wrapped around a mangrove tree at Kranji.

The supergals -- Ywee Chieh and Su -- easily removed it. Fortunately, one small Mangrove horseshoe crab was released and we only saw remains of another horseshoe crab and one small crab.

600m fishing net seen on Pulau Semakau (South), 28 Jan 2017

An approximately 600m-long fishing net was seen on Pulau Semakau (South) close to the Barammundi Asia fish farm there.

Here's more of what we saw.

Update: Eva Lim who works at Barramundi Asia almost immediately replied on the social media post about the net: "what you posted was indeed heartbreaking. We will like to work with your team to remove these nets, and perhaps help to monitor the area together to prevent fishermen from casting nets in this area." She will be looking to activate the farm team to remove the net, and keep an eye out to prevent such nets from being laid in the future. Hurray!

Net removed from Berlayar Creek (12 Jan 2017)

An abandoned net was removed from the mouth of Berlayar Creek.

Two large horseshoe crabs that were trapped in it were released alive.

30m net removed from Kusu Island (8 May 2016)

This is our first encounter with a net on Kusu Island.

The net was laid at the 'mouth' of a swimming lagoon that is full of corals. There are rich reefs at the mouth facing the sea as well.

200m net removed at Chek Jawa (7 May 2016)

A team of volunteers who were surveying Chek Jawa this morning came across a long net.

Thanks to many hands, we managed to remove the entire 200m long net and release all the animals that were trapped in the net.

Removal of long driftnet at Sisters’ Island Marine Park (26 Nov 2015)

A long abandoned driftnet, estimated 60m to100m was found across at the right hand corner entrance of the big lagoon located at Pulau Subar Laut (Big Sister Island) facing the Singapore Straits. This was first spotted during Marine Park volunteer guide training on 15 Nov 2015.

Although some leathery soft corals and corals were affected, no marine life was found trapped in the net.

Three nets kill blacktip reef sharks, fishes, crabs and more on Lazarus Island (16 Aug 2015)

On 16 Aug 2015, the St. John's Island Marine Lab posted on facebook: "This morning, we found 13 juvenile blacktip reef sharks and more than 30 crabs of various species caught in three drift nets at Lazarus Island. 

"Unfortunately, all sharks are dead and are now stored in our freezer awaiting to be passed to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Rene Ong and Samantha Tong did a good job in removing the nets and educating the people who laid them. Teresa Tay and Yen-ling Lee helped to disentangle the crabs and release them. Drift nets kill indiscriminately and damage the corals. Please fish responsibly so that we can enjoy nature sustainably." The news are almost immediately posted on the Straits Times.

Long driftnet at Berlayar Creek (24 Apr 2015)

During a survey of Berlayar Creek shore, we came across a long abandoned driftnet. It started from the sand bar facing Sentosa and stretched northwards to Reflections by the Bay.

Thanks to Toh Yuet Hsin and her team from NParks, the net was removed.

Nets and traps seen on Pulau Sekudu (13-15 Jun 2014)

A small team conduct predawn surveys at Pulau Sekudu with permission from NParks, to check up on the status of these shores.

Loh Kok Sheng shared that they came across this long net on 15 Jun.

50m net with 40 crabs at Changi (29 May 2014)

A 50m driftnet was found laid on Changi as our trip ended at sunrise.

We removed the net and released all the animals trapped in it: 40 Flower crabs, 1 Stone crab, 1 sting ray, 1 horseshoe crab and 1 flounder as well as one decomposed fish.

100m abandoned driftnet at Pulau Hantu (3 May 2014)

A long abandoned driftnet in the middle of the swimming lagoon at Pulau Hantu was spotted two weeks ago by Debby, Pei Yan and other Hantu Bloggers who were conducting a guided walk at the time. More about this on Pei Yan's blog.

Today, we removed the net.

Driftnet traps sharks, horseshoe crabs, stingrays on Pulau Semakau (9 Aug 2013)

Sadly, but not surprisingly, we came across a driftnet during our National Day visit to Pulau Semakau.

In the short portion of the net that I surveyed, I saw 14 horseshoe crabs that were still alive and struggling and seemed freshly entangled in the net. Including two pairs of male and female. They all looked like Coastal horseshoe crabs.