Residents after cleaning beaches at Ardnatrush and Derrycreigh

National Spring Clean 2010 in the Glengarriff area has started: For the fourth year in a row residents of Derrycreigh and Ardnatrush Beg cleaned the beaches and shoreline of their townlands on Saturday last. 12 volunteering residents of „Tidy Beaches Action Group South of Glengarriff“ spent the morning collecting rubbish that mainly originates from the mussel industry in Bantry Bay. The group supported the fishermen of the area in their ongoing effort to purge the polluted shoreline of Bantry Bay and to restore the pristine beauty so many songs have been sung about. Although parts of the shore had been pre-cleaned by a team of FAS workers the volunteer residents collected a big heap of non-organic materials. Fisherman will pick up the bags with theier boats later this month.

In a Code of Practice, signed last year by all local mussel companies, the aquaculture industry agreed on environmentally sound procedures and practices. Over the last four years the quality of the beaches has slightly improved. The amount of mussel mesh, ropes, strings, cut-offs and barrels washed up on the shore is decreasing. Another five years of proper workflows and ongoing clean-ups are expected to be needed to rectify the situation – although the millions of desintegrated plastic pellets in the water itself cannot be tackled in any way.

People in the Glengarriff area can report messy local beaches to the Harbour Master in Bantry, Tel. 027 53277 and ask for a clean-up.