The Lobster Pot Campaign is a national safety initiative on behalf of the wider boating community and the Cruising Association (CA)  is leading the campaign in partnership with its 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's 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.

The CA's immediate priority is building 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.

Please report any incidents to the RYA here.

You can view the map of incidents to date here.

There's more information about the campaign here.