Muscat – In an effort to safeguard Oman’s marine environment, the Quriyat Divers removed 150kg of abandoned fishing nets from the seabed in Ras Abu Dawood, Quriyat on Friday.

The clean-up, carried out at depths between 6m to 12m, was conducted after the team received a report on discarded nets threatening marine life, including corals, turtles and crustaceans.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Juma Khamis al Amri, Head of the Quriyat Divers, said the clean-up followed a field assessment on September 27 and involved five divers who worked for more than four hours to extract the tangled nets.

“The site was particularly challenging as it contained soft coral that required utmost care to avoid damage. A large portion of the nets had also become lodged on rocky formations due to tides and waves, making the task more complex,” Amri explained.

He noted that this was not the first such initiative. On September 19, four team members removed around 180kg of nets from another site in Quriyat.

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