Some changes to the MARPOL (Marine Pollution) regulations, which apply to our vessel, are coming in at the beginning of 2013. No solid food can be put into the sea when a vessel is within 3 miles of the coast, when more than 3 miles away then food waste can be discharged into to the sea but has to go through a sieve with a maximum of 25 mm/1 inch spacing. On our run we are never more than 3 miles away from the land so we are no longer able to deposit any solid food waste of any size into the sea.
Now we have been in the habit of putting a lot of food waste, peelings, plate scrapings etc. through a macerator which turns them into a fine soup before going over the side. From January 1st we can no longer do this and all of our waste is going into extra thick and strong plastic bags to be deposited into a skip ashore here in Oban. This will eventually end up in land fill as there are no facilities for organic waste here.
As I see it the fish are losing out on an easy meal and the planet gets a load of plastic and landfill. This is progress.
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