DeFishGear PHOTO: Bostjan Mljcac Christina Zeri Institute of Oceanography, HCMR Anavyssos, Greece chris@hcmr.gr
Our target 1) To organize a pilot collection scheme of DFG for recycling. 2) To test if FFL activities is an effective management tool of seafloor litter in Greece. 3) To check if FFL is an effective monitoring tool for seafloor litter.
Preparatory activities Distribution of questionnaires to fishermen regarding litter and DFG management. Organization of small events targeted to fishermen, the municipality and local recyclers.
Difficulties encountered Municipality and Port authority were very promising in words but never actually took the responsibility. Fishermen attitude towards the problem was very reserved but after a lot of discussion on a personal level we managed to collect 18 questionnaires out of 45 fishermen (40%).
marine shipping 18% marine undifentif ied 30% Results from the Questionnaires No Bins 28% the source of the problem terrestrial 52% nuissance 6% no problem 6% Good perception of the problem At sea 16% the nature of the problem environm ental 88% None of them noted the presence of fishing lines or Litter bins on board nets in ML caught!! Litter disposal Bins 72% Inconsistency Harbour bins 84% Not my responsibility, smbdy else should clear the mess
Main activities Collection of DFG for recycling Fishermen were eager to deliver their derelict gear to us About 400 kg of derelict fishing nets collected from Corfu isl. have been delivered to MEDASET and Healthy Seas for recycling at AQUAFIL.
Two years of FFL. Two out of four trawlers participated. Major problem: lack of financial compensation. We have spotted more specific/local problems: 1) In Greece fisheries is not industrial, and the fleet of trawlers is rather small. They work independently not in companies. 2) In Corfu the 4 trawlers may use 3-4 different shelters. Often these shelters are in remote places not included in waste collection routes. Main activities FFL pilot actions 3) In our case FFL succeeded, mostly due to our physical presence and the personal relationship that we established with the 2 trawlers.
Effectiveness of FFL as a management tool 35 kg/km 2 ML density from scientific monitoring Fishing grounds total area 1867 km 2 4.2 T litter collected Trawling period 240 days/ y 420 *2 trawls= 900 Days 53 T of ML reside on the fishing grounds no inputs assumed 1.05 T/y/trawl For 4 trawls~13 years needed to clean the seafloor
Seafloor litter is only one aspect of the problem How much litter resides on the seafloor compared to that coming from land, floats and is washed ashore? Waste production on land 112,000 Residents of Corfu 500 kg/resident /year 56 KT/y 30% recyclable 17 KT/y Production of recyclable wastes
17 ΚT/y 10% Mismanaged 1700 T/y 25% At sea 425 T/y 425 T/y 130 T/y 53 T The figures show that our efforts should concentrate also on beach and riverine litter collection and management
Effectiveness of FFL as a monitoring tool Comparisons with scientific monitoring Wood FFL Textile Paper Glass Scientific monitoring Litter type composition is comparable Metal Rubber Plastic 0 20 40 60 80 100%
Effectiveness of FFL as a monitoring tool Otherplastic Diapers/nappies Sanitarytowels Cableties Sheets, industrial packaging, Strappingbands Fishingnets and gear Syntheticrope Musselnets Gloves Plasticcupsandlids Cratesandcontainers Foodcontainers Bottles Bags FFL scientific monitoring Plastics categories composition is largely differing Instrument for 0Pre-Accession 10 Assistance 20 30 40 50
Effectiveness of FFL as a monitoring tool % 80 70 Scientific monitoring FFL 60 50 40 30 Litter sizes also largely differing Fishermen tend to ignore small sizes 20 10 0 <5 cm <10cm <20 cm < 50 cm <1m > 1m Also information on sampling routes may not be accurate
Litter collected by fishermen
Litter collected during scientific monitoring
In conclusion Local authorities and recyclers are still ignorant and mostly indifferent to the problem. Their interest will arise only when the waste management sector on land will take into consideration ML. Great effort is needed on a personal level for fishermen to understand that FFL can be conducted easily as part of their fishing. Fishermen need an organized simple scheme concerning bin availability, collection and compensation. FFL is not the ultimate management tool and it should be considered in relation to other tools focusing to riverine and beach litter. FFL is definitely not a reliable way for monitoring seafloor litter.
DeFishGear - Derelict Fishing Gear Management System in the Adriatic Region PHOTO: Bostjan Mljcac