A 100-meter fishnet is removed from the seabeds in Blanes

The removed fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms.
The removed fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms.
Research
(26/07/2017)

An abandoned fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms, was removed from the seabeds in Blanes on Friday July  21, in an action coordinated by the Directorate-General of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (DARP), which had the participation of experts from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio), the Water Unit of Mossos dʼEsquadra (Catalan police force), Cofaria de Pescadors de Blanes and the environmental entity SʼAgulla.    

The removed fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms.
The removed fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms.
Research
26/07/2017

An abandoned fishnet, with a length of 100 meters and weight of 500 kilograms, was removed from the seabeds in Blanes on Friday July  21, in an action coordinated by the Directorate-General of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (DARP), which had the participation of experts from the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio), the Water Unit of Mossos dʼEsquadra (Catalan police force), Cofaria de Pescadors de Blanes and the environmental entity SʼAgulla.    

 

A rescue operation two sea miles far from the coast

 

This net -encircling gear- was found by the members of SʼAgulla in October 2016, and it was trapped in a rocky bar with coral at a 40-meter depth, two sea miles far from the coast. “The depth in which the net was found was one of the main technical difficulties for the operation” says the lecturer Bernat Hereu (UB-IRBio), one of the main participants in the operation. “To get it back, all divers had to use dive cylinders with a mix of gases, and with long decompression stops, which are mandatory if you go that deep”.

The fishing tool was taken from the sea bed carefully in order to avoid causing damage to the benthic species and to the sea floor during the extraction process. According to the experts, everything points out that the net had not been there for long before receiving the news about its existence. The main risk of this net on marine life was the collapse and the entanglement on corals, one of the most sensitive biological communities in marine ecosystems. Once it was taken to the harbour in Blanes, the net was put in the specific management containers the fishing harbours have in Catalonia to ease the right management of fishing nets when they are no longer useful.  

Ghost fishing that threatens marine biodiversity

Lost or abandoned nets and other fishing tools in seabeds are a constant threat for the marine life. Since the fishing activity is bigger and bigger in oceans -fishing materials also last longer- this problem is affecting seas and oceans around the world. The lost nets can continue catching organisms during years -the effect of the ghost fishing- and cause a negative impact in ocean ecosystems (in particular, fish and benthic organisms). At the same time, they can be a potential risk for the safety of marine activities and navigation. In the Mediterranean, a sea with a distinguished fishing activity, the impact of lost or abandoned fishnets is getting more and more significant.

Preserving marine ecosystems with an action protocol

Fighting ghost fishing and reducing the environmental impact of antiregulatory hauls and lost fishnets in the sea are the objectives of the scientific-technical protocol developed by DARP and the UB. This protocol, to be set in Catalonia, will explain the actions to be taken with this problem in order to preserve marine ecosystems and improve the state of marine resources which are directly related to fishing and other economic sectors (leisure activities, scuba diving, etc.).    

In this context, the retrieval the net in the coast of Blanes, which integrated all involved actors, will be a new model to make progresses in the definition of the bases for the future protocol to protect Catalan coasts from the effects of ghost fishing.

 

 

                                                                                                         Images: Bernat Hereu (UB-IRBio)