Dear Fellow Sailor
Cruising Association Lobster Pot Campaign: Marked Gear = Safe Gear
I am writing to you as President of the Cruising Association (CA) to seek your club’s support for the Lobster Pot Campaign, a national safety initiative on behalf of the wider boating community. The CA is leading the campaign in partnership with our alliance partners, the Royal Institute for Navigation, the Westerly Owners’ Association, Practical Boat Owner and Yachting Monthly.
Launched this spring, the campaign is calling for mandatory, enforceable standards for marking static fishing gear to improve safety at sea. Poorly marked lobster pots and creels continue to pose a significant hazard to recreational and commercial vessels, resulting in entanglements, vessel damage, near misses and, in some cases, injury. Since its launch the campaign has been widely publicised in the yachting and boating press.
This is not an anti-fishing campaign. It is a campaign for safer waters for everyone. Responsible fishermen, sailors, motor cruisers and regulators all share an interest in ensuring that static fishing gear is clearly visible and safely marked. The issue is unsafe marking practices rather than fishing itself, and the long-term objective is to make existing MCA guidance mandatory and enforceable.
The campaign is supported by a range of organisations, including the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), UK Harbour Masters Association (UKHMA), and British Ports Association (BPA), along with well-known sailing personalities such as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Building the evidence
Our immediate priority is to build the evidence needed to demonstrate the scale of the problem.
The CA is therefore encouraging all boaters to report sightings of poorly marked static fishing gear, near misses and entanglements using the Royal Yachting Association’s Fishing Gear Incident Reporting Form.
Since September 2025, the RYA has published anonymised reports and an interactive map showing where incidents are occurring. Every report strengthens the evidence base, helps identify high-risk locations and supports the case for change. Between September 2025 and mid-September 2026, 50 entanglements and 107 sightings of poorly marked static fishing gear have been reported, with two minor injuries to crew recorded.
Incidents can be reported to the RYA at:
www.rya.org.uk/water-safety/fishing-gear-incident-reporting-form
You can view the map of incidents at:
www.rya.org.uk/water-safety/boat-safety-and-maintenance/fishing-gear-entanglements
How you can help
I would like to ask for your support and help in promoting the campaign to the wider boating community. I would be extremely grateful if you could:
• promote the campaign through your website, newsletter, social media or other communications available to you
• encourage boaters to report entanglements and sightings to the RYA
• display the attached campaign flyer
• distribute our campaign flyers and pick-up cards
We have produced campaign materials and would be delighted to supply you with as many printed flyers (A4 and A5 size) and pick-up cards (similar to business cards) as you are able to distribute. Please do let me know by email to lobsterpots@theca.org.uk how many of each you would like and please confirm your mailing address?
In the meantime, you can print off a copy of the attached flyer to display or you can download it from the CA website.
You can find further information about the campaign at:
www.theca.org.uk/lobster-pot-campaign
If you can help build our campaign, I would be grateful if you could reply to this email on lobsterpots@theca.org.uk.
Thank you for your support.
Many thanks and kind regards.
Robin Baron
President, Cruising Association