Cruising Association Expanded Fishing Gear Safety Campaign
The organization issued renewed calls for sailors to report hazardous, poorly marked fishing equipment.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Fishing
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The Cruising Association has intensified its long-running safety campaign to address the dangers posed by poorly marked fishing gear. The effort follows a series of recent incidents and aims to secure mandatory gear-marking regulations.
Why it matters
The campaign seeks to transition current voluntary gear-marking guidance into enforceable regulations to improve maritime safety. Tracking reports helps officials quantify the distribution of these hazards to protect vessels from becoming fouled.
Official reports documented 50 gear entanglements and 107 sightings of improperly marked equipment over a 12-month period ending in September 2026. These incidents resulted in two minor crew injuries and required emergency assistance for vessels.
The players
Cruising Association
This membership organization provides information and support to cruising sailors worldwide.
Royal Yachting Association
This is the national governing body for all forms of boating in the United Kingdom.
Skerries RNLI
This volunteer-staffed search and rescue organization provides maritime assistance in Irish coastal waters.
Irish Sailing
This represents the national governing body for sailing and powerboating across Ireland.
The details
The initiative distributes educational materials, including pocket-sized cards, to marinas and yacht clubs to encourage incident reporting. Data is currently mapped through a system established by the Royal Yachting Association to track hazards like lobster pot lines.
Timeline
The Cruising Association began campaigning on static fishing gear in 2018.
The Royal Yachting Association began mapping reports in September 2025.
A yacht was fouled on gear off Rush Harbour in May 2026.
Irish Sailing renewed their calls for gear reporting in July 2026.
The reporting period for the 50 recorded entanglements closed in September 2026.
Roadmap
This effort builds upon the Cruising Association's 2018 static fishing gear safety campaign. It marks a strategic shift from advocating for voluntary compliance to seeking formal, mandatory gear-marking legislation within the maritime industry.
Sailors and boaters should ensure they keep a vigilant watch for poorly marked lines to avoid entanglement and potential vessel damage. Participation in reporting hazardous gear helps authorities build a case for mandatory safety regulations.
The takeaway
Boaters should document and report any instances of improperly marked gear they encounter to their local yachting associations. Increased reporting remains the most effective way to compel regulators to adopt mandatory, safer gear-marking standards.
Further reading
Find more resources regarding maritime safety in our Fishing section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ireland Afloat.
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Should maritime authorities require mandatory marking for all static fishing gear in local waters?
