Bathers wishing to swim towards the shoreline near Popeye Village from Anchor Bay have complained about an underwater net that makes it difficult to access the beach.

A spokesperson for Popeye Village explained that the partially submerged net was placed there to keep out jellyfish and bathers could easily swim over it and to the shoreline.

“Due to the heavy increase of jellyfish over the last summers, with swimmers getting stung, some very badly, we looked into measures on protecting the general swimmers, not just those visiting Popeye Village, from the harmful creatures,” said Popeye Village director Stephen Bonnici.

Still from a TikTok video showing underwater net. Source: Ramona Depares

The issue was flagged on social media where a bather shared a video of the submerged thick net blocking her from swimming further into the bay towards the shore.

When contacted, Bonnici explained that the netting was sourced from a local fish farm and was tailor-made for the area. It was used for the past five summers on and off as needed.

Just a temporary solution for anyone using the bay

“It is set especially when the jellyfish alert is high,” he said, adding that staff could easily remove the net when necessary and when there were no jellyfish sightings.

“This is just a temporary solution for anyone using the bay, not only for Popeye Village patrons,” he said, adding that “the netting is not in any means there to block swimmers” from using the foreshore. He said Popeye Village controlled those allowed to make use of its water games by providing paying patrons with wristbands.

According to law, the beaches – and the foreshore around the island – are public land. This means no one can own the foreshore and restrict access to people.

Marine biologist Alan Deidun explained it is not uncommon for beaches to have netting to keep jellyfish away from bathers. It is important that such nets are cleaned regularly to ensure that any fouling is removed not to block the water circulation to the detriment of the ecosystem in the area.

Deidun added that anchoring of nets should be done in a way that ensures the protection of seagrass meadows.