Marine debris from US found on Isles of Scilly

Nikki Banfield says the local council disposes of marine debris that cannot not be recycled for free

A marine litter enthusiast on the Isles of Scilly says she has collected about 15,000 pieces of marine debris since February, including a lobster trap tag from the US.

Nikki Banfield said she recently traced the tag via social media back to a fishing village off the Maine coast 3,000 miles (4,828km) away "as the crow flies".

She said both the US and Canadian governments had strict rules about how, when and where fishing took place, including the use of lobster trap tags.

"I posted on a local Facebook group I'm part of full of American and Canadian lobster fisheries, and they're incredibly helpful and supportive in trying to track things down and find out where their gear has got to," she said.

Nikki Banfield says she traced the owner using social media

She added the tag had the name Jim MacDonald on it and a family member of his had informed her that it came from North Haven.

"It's a little island off the coast of Maine and this tag travelled 3,000 miles (4,828km) as the crow flies," said Ms Banfield.

"In the ocean it's going around in circles and sort of wizzes all over the place. It's actually travelled a lot further."

She said tags were regularly found washed up on beaches on the Isles of Scilly.

Ms Banfield says the general response when beach visitors see her cleaning up is very supportive

Ms Banfield said the purpose of her group, called Scilly Coastal Clean-up, was to collect the items and sort them to be recycled.

She said: "In the future, we're going to send things away that can be recycled. Anything that can't be recycled, our local council are very kindly disposing of free of charge."

She said the general response when beach visitors saw her clean was "very supportive".

However, she added there was a high percentage of people who were "absolutely horrified" by the amount of litter washed up on the beaches.

"I explain to visitors that things haven't come from Scilly, probably about 98% to 99% of what we pick up on our beaches have come from other locations," she said.

She hopes to organise community beach cleans in the future.

She appealed to anyone who carried out a beach clean on the islands in future to let her know so she could collect and sort the marine debris for recycling.