Fishermen fight pollution: in Campania, they're fishing for waste, helping the environment.

From Ischia, Procida, and Punta Campanella, a nature reserve straddling the gulfs of Naples and Salerno, to the Cilento peninsula, a fleet of fishermen and recyclers collects waste to clean up the region's seas. They also fight against ghost fishing.

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fishermen against pollution

Plastic, glass, wood, fabrics, even metals. Every day, in addition to fish, all sorts of waste end up in fishermen's nets, polluting our seas. So, why not combine business with pleasure by equipping boats to become true marine resources? waste disposal points?

ALSO READ: On the island of Favignana, two young designers are designing fishing nets made from recycled plastic.

FISHERMEN AGAINST POLLUTION

A simple and effective idea that empowers fishermen, undoubtedly the most aware of marine pollution, to carry out thorough seabed cleanups. This is the foundation of the Remare project, which engages all fishermen operating in the Gulf of Naples and the waters around the Cilento Peninsula. This synergy allows fishing operators to clean the waters and coasts, simply fdoing what they do every day: fishing.

Rowing, in fact, allows us to circumvent a blind regulatory gap, and many legal loopholes, which previously forced fishermen to throw waste trapped in their nets back into the sea, without going to the appropriate sorting centers. The fishing boats participating in the initiative, in fact, are specially equipped with disposal and delivery containers and baskets, which, once on land, are then delivered to a duly registered and legally compliant waste treatment company.

A simple gesture that allows us to make progress toward protecting the environment and reinforces the importance of respecting the environment we live in. Starting with those who sail those seas every day to bring the fish we eat to our tables.

TO KNOW MORE: Oceans, plastic is spreading everywhere. Far from reducing, we're submerged.

ROW CAMPANIA PROJECT

The “scavenger-fishermen” work: from August to November the waste collected is 19 tons, For a total of 393 vessels involved and 4 marine reserves, from north to south of Campania, which include approximately 52 thousand hectares of sea.
The Remare project, funded by the region with European Union funds and a first in Italy, has successfully brought together all the region's marine reserves, conservation consortia, and fishing cooperatives, all working together in the spirit of environmental awareness and respect for the sea. All united in the same goal: to clean up the Campanian sea, unfortunately black-flagged for pollution and the presence of plastic waste, while also stepping up the fight against illegal waste dumping and the so-called "sea-sludge" phenomenon. “ghost fishing”, ghost nets left or lost by fishermen themselves, which represent up to 10% of the plastic materials abandoned in the water.

(Featured image from Ondanews. Photo credits: Ondanews)

STORIES OF FIGHTING POLLUTION:

 

 

 

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