Newquay Marine Group now also runs the Newquay Cleaner Seas Project (NCS)
In partnership with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) and Environment Agency (EA) the National Cleaner Seas scheme is now in Newquay.
In 2018-2019 NCS concentrated on the Porth Catchment (which extends all the way from Porth Beach, up to Kingsley Village, taking in Fraddon, Indian Queens and St Columb.)
In 2019-2020 also NCS began in the Towan Catchment (which takes in the main town and the harbour as well as Towan Beach.)
The objectives of the project are to:
Raise public and business awareness of poor drainage and waste disposal practices that causes blockages, leaks and overflows that result in polluted drainage water reaching bathing beaches.
This can be divided into 3 specific areas:
- Fats, oils and grease (FOGs) from restaurants, cafes and hotels
- Only the 3Ps down the drain for hotels, lodges and campsites.
- Only rain down the drain – using the yellow fish campaign for publicity and school engagement.
The ‘Yellow Fish’ Campaign is simple and effective that sees NMG working with local schools and preschools, stencilling yellow fish symbols beside drains to remind people that any waste entering them can end up in our marine environment where it affects our amazing wildlife and coastline. You might have seen some yellow fish pop up next to drains near you?
It is hoped that this initiative will improve the quality of bathing water in some areas and also remind the public that everyone has a part to play in protecting the seas, beaches and marine life.
The above can be downloaded here
When the busy season was over and after working a lot with the schools, the project’s next phase was to engage businesses about FOGs and the 3Ps… talking to businesses, cafes, restaurants, hotels and campsites and providing free materials to hand out to their guests and staff as well as providing a free (and confidential) drain misconnection surveys and advice should they need it.
All the materials can be found below and are free to download and use. Send us an email if you would like to discuss the project or how to utilise it in your business.
We wrote reports on the projects for our funders. Have a read below. The Towan Project was put on hold due to Covid-19 but we hope to pick this back up very soon in a smaller capacity. We are happy to guerrilla paint yellow fish anywhere!
Newquay Cleaner Seas Project Porth Report 2018-2019
Newquay Cleaner Seas Project Towan Report 2019-2020
