A 32-year-old mother has urged residents to boycott crabbing competitions after a dead seagull washed up on a beach tangled in a string line.

Suzy Stockwin, who lives in Herne Bay, was walking along the seafront with her three-year-old daughter, Darcy, when they discovered the body.

She believes the crabbing line, which was wrapped around its wing, would have contributed to its death.

“It would have definitely stopped it from flying,” Ms Stockwin said.

“It was wrapped up in its wing and the plastic handle would have been quite heavy under the water, so it would have been pulled under by it. It definitely would have died from this because it was a young seagull.”

Crabbing is a popular activity along the seafront and an annual competition has been organised by the Herne Bay Angling Association since the 1980s.

The latest one took place towards the end of Bayfest on Monday, August 27, and attracted about 600 people to the pier.

Ms Stockwin made the discovery close to Western Esplanade before taking her daughter to school.

She said those who take part in crabbing competitions “don’t understand the damage it can do”.

“You don’t realise how much you can impact the environment, but that was horrible,” she said.

“I don’t think it should be banned, but I don’t think people should do crabbing.

“It uses the animals for entertainment; it’s so unnecessary to drag some crabs out of the sea. You can look at them under rocks when the tide’s out.”

But Barry Mount, a trustee of the Herne Bay Angling Association, labelled this an “isolated incident” and insisted crabbing is, in fact, “educative”.

“At the competition, people use a line to catch crabs,” he said. “There are stewards going round on the day and we also have bins on hand.

“Children are told to look after the sea life, have respect for the creatures and make sure they’re returned as safely as possible.

“They aren’t harmed at all – they’re extremely hardy creatures. You can go rock pooling at low tide, but this is much more fun – it’s like fishing.”

Ms Stockwin noted the bird’s body was surrounded by more rubbish, including a beer can and balloon, that had been dumped along the beach.

She hopes the photograph of the dead seagull, which she shared on Facebook, will highlight the damage littering can do to the environment.

“It shows people this can happen on our beaches,” she explained. “People used to use hooks, which we discourage and so no one uses them any more.

“It always seems to be in tropical places where we see these kinds of images, whereas that was right here and it killed one of our animals. I hope it makes people more aware.”