From Abandoned “Ghost” fishing nets, to quality socks and sportwear, the “Healthy Seas” initiative

FROM ABANDONED “GHOST” FISHING NETS, TO QUALITY SOCKS AND SPORTSWEAR,

THE “HEALTHY SEAS” INITIATIVE Lily Venizelos 1 & Veronika Mikos2 1MEDASSET-

1(c) Licavitou St., 10672 Athens,Greece, 2ECNC - 3 Reitseplein, 5037 AA Tilburg, The Netherlands.

INTRODUCTION Action against derelict fishing gear

AIMS A business-like approach involving crosssectoral collaboration Recognizing the increasing level of interest in tackling the issue of derelict fishing gear, and the fact that the scope of existing solutions does not yet come close to tackling the scale of the problem, we wish to highlight the importance of solutions that are integrated into scalable business models. The recovered fishing nets will be transformed and regenerated into ECONYL® yarn, a highquality raw material used to create new products, such as socks, swimwear, underwear and carpets. Emphasis is placed on raising public awareness on the environmental damage caused by ‘ghost’ fishing gear and on the ecological and economic importance of healthy seas.

There is a growing body of evidence to show that marine litter, in particular derelict fishing gear, poses serious environmental, conservation, animal welfare, human health and economic costs that are of relevance to many stakeholders. Discarded fishing nets float along for years ‘ghost fishing’ for anything that gets entangled in their sprawling web. The ‘Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear’ initiative aims to remove waste, in particular fishing nets from the seas for the purpose of creating healthier seas and recycling marine litter into textile products. It is a global problem that requires urgent action. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), derelict fishing gear makes up for one tenth of all marine litter, equivalent to 640,000 tonnes a year. The adverse impacts of derelict fishing gear have been exacerbated by the introduction of non-biodegradable fishing gear, with many of the plastics used predicted to persist in the marine environment for up to 600 years. The cumulative long-term effects are likely to be extremely damaging to marine flora and fauna, as well as to the people and industries that depend on healthy seas1. Derelict fishing gear has large-scale impacts on marine biodiversity through habitat disturbance and the effects of ghost-fishing, where it continues to catch fish more than eight years after being lost. It causes direct harm to the welfare and conservation of marine animals via entanglement and/or ingestion; It acts as a source of, and vehicle for, persistent toxic chemical pollution in the ocean; and it represents a threat to human health, for example, to maritime traffic and scuba divers through propeller entanglement2, 3. There are also significant economic costs associated with derelict fishing gear across European waters. For example, in the UK, municipalities spend approximately €18 million each year removing beach litter and in 2008 there were 286 vessel rescues in UK waters with fouled propellers; incurring a total cost of between €830,000 and €2,189,0004. Although the localised nature of lost and abandoned nets creates problems for ecosystems and marine species, at the same time it allows focused recovery action. The “Healthy Seas” Initiative is a joint venture of Environmental Non Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) and businesses whose objective is to remove waste, such as abandoned nets from the seas. ‘Ghost’ nets are one of the main causes of injury or death for several of marine species

To this date work has been carried out in three pilot regions: the North Sea (Netherlands and Belgium) and in the Mediterranean Adriatic Sea (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia) and Spain. These regions are visited by millions of tourists every year and their common characteristic is their valuable and rich biodiversity. These regions where selected as the Initiative’s pilot areas on the basis that they are heavily fished, they hold many shipwrecks where waste fishing nets tend to accumulate, while they are good representatives of the, environmental conditions that occur in other marine areas within the Mediterranean and the North sea.

Pilot Region 1: North Sea

METHODS

RESULTS

Marinephotobank.org

Action for marine protection Recovering fishnets: Professional divers and salvage

companies recover ‘ghost’ nets from the Adriatic and the North Sea. In the Mediterranean, project partners have been scouting further marine areas, particularly in Spain for the conduct of future clean-ups. Other marine areas are also under investigation such as California in the USA. Preventing marine litter: Through collaboration with fishermen, fish farms, local communities and other associated stakeholders the initiative seeks to prevent waste nets from ending up in the sea. Through collaboration with various stakeholders, measures are also being identified and elaborated for the responsible yet affordable disposal of nets.

Since the start of “Healthy Seas” in 2013 more than 20 tons of abandoned nets were removed in the North Sea. One severe threat to the ecosystem of the North Sea is “ghost” fishing with its significantly negative effect on already overexploited fish stocks. In addition, large amounts of lost or abandoned plummets and hooks result in lead deposits that contribute to the pollution of the North Sea. As shipwrecks are very important to marine biodiversity, “Healthy Seas” started cleaning-up waste nets from some of the 56 wrecks in the Dutch and Belgian North Sea. In 2014 we expect to collect several tons of discarded nets in this region. The recovered fishnets are stored in a facility in Den Oever, the Netherlands.

Pilot Region 2 & 3: Mediterranean Sea

The Adriatic Sea with its delicate reefs and plentiful wrecks that provide habitat to many marine species poses a particular challenge to our clean-up activities. The “Healthy Seas” diving team has a permit to clean-up derelict fishing gear from all reefs and some selected wrecks. Further we are identifying other suitable locations for clean-up actions and will establish a waste fishing net reception facility in Istria. As part of the Adriatic Sea project we are co-ordinating programs across Italy, Slovenia and Croatia to raise awareness and prevent future pollution. About 6.000 fishing nets are lost every year, only looking at the Cantabric Sea, Bay of Biscay1. In Spain, we have been scouting the area for upcoming clean-up activities. We are also engaging with salvage companies, fishermen and other stakeholders on prevention and awareness raising. Currently, we are in the process of establishing a waste net collection point in Vigo, Spain. MEDASSET is currently investigating with the help of an extensive network of diving associations, potential areas in 18 municipalities in Greece, where clean-up activities have been carried out successfully in the past and where the “Healthy Seas” Initiative can expand its activities for 2014.

PARTNERS What makes the Initiative special?

Once fishing nets are recovered they are sent to the Regeneration plant in Slovenia where ECONYL® yarn is produced

Regeneration Process Recovered fishing nets are cleaned of foreign materials such as organic, plastic or metallic elements and prepared for regeneration. The nylon found in recovered fishing nets is taken and transformed into virgin raw material, which together with other waste materials is turned into ECONYL® regenerated nylon yarn. ECONYL® yarn can be used for a wide range of products and can be recycled endlessly without any loss of material quality.

Recovery of fishing nets is a tough job that requires the dedication of a large team of skillful professionals

“Healthy

Seas”

The Initiative’s founders are the European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC Land & Sea Group), Aquafil Nylon 6 producers (Italy) with Econyl Regeneration System Project and StarSock (Netherlands), a wholesale business for socks that focuses on both environmental and economic sustainability. The cross-sectoral nature of this collaboration has been essential to the success of the initiative. The expertise and experience from different sectors are harnessed to work towards a common goal. The ENGO sector has the field knowledge and contacts to implement clean-up activities, whereas the business sector can provide business expertise, a linkage to market and access to a far broader audience through their customer base and communications network.

Products

A wide range of textile products such as sportswear, swimwear, underwear and carpets can be produced with ECONYL® yarn derived from recovered fishing nets and other waste materials. Carpets can make a fundamental contribution to sustainable housing and design.

REFERENCES

1. Macfadyen, G., Huntington, T. & Cappell, R. (2009) Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear.UNEP Regional Seas Reports and

Studies, No. 185; FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, No. 523.Rome, UNEP/FAO. 2. Brown, J. G., Macfa yen, T., Huntington, J. M. & Tumilty, J (2005) Ghost Fishing by Lost Fishing Gear.Final Report to DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the European Commission.Fish/2004/20.Institute for European Environmental Policy/Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd joint report. 3. Butterworth, A., Clegg, I. & Bass, C. (2012) Untangled – Marine debris: a global picture of the impact on animal welfare and of animalfocused solutions. London: World Society for the Protection of Animals. 4. Mouat, J., Lopez Lozano, R. & Bateson, H. (2010) Economic Impacts of Marine Litter.Project report, KIMO International.

ECONYL® yarn can be used for a wide range of hosiery products

Contact info: HEALTHY SEAS: www.healthyseas.org ECNC : ecnc@ecnc.org MEDASSET: medasset@medasset.org AQUAFIL: www.aquafil.com STARSOCK: www.starsock.nl

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