Every year, human activity causes tons of Marine Litter accumulate in the oceans, threatening marine biodiversity and harming the health of people and the planet. Being aware of this situation, Ecoembes and the Ecoalf Foundation have been working to be a part of the solution to this serious environmental problem with the Recycling Oceans project since 2015. In a clear example of the circular economy, fishermen from all over the country are joining this campaign to reclaim this surplus and turn it into raw material to produce new products.
Thanks to this initiative, waste that should never be dumped into the sea is recovered and given a second life through recycling and circular economy. To make this possible, the project relies on the determination and cooperation of fishermen who are selflessly tasked with bringing the marine litter collected in their nets ashore so that it can be recycled and turned into raw materials.
Thanks to the efforts of our close circle, especially throughout 2022 2,600 fishermen sum total 189,844 kilos of waste from the Spanish seafloor. Some data made public this week during the presentation of the annual activity of the project, which continues to grow and confirms the fisheries sector’s involvement in protecting the oceans.
So much so that this is 2023, already joined the project Galician ports of Sanxenxo and CombarroIt reaches a total of 45 cooperating fishing ports spread across five autonomous communities: Galicia, Catalonia, the Community of Valencia, Andalusia and the Region of Murciawhere meetings and training days are organized to encourage fishermen’s commitment and participation in the project.
Likewise, the great heroes of Upcycling the Oceans had space to delve deeper into the role they played by collaborating with the project. First of all, fisherwoman Miriam Artacho, “Our main desire is to be able to pull our nets out of the sea without collecting garbage.. This means that the seafloor is already clean and no longer a real threat to the ecosystem. However, there is still a lot of work to be done and in the meantime, we will continue to do our part by contributing to the cause.”
Nacho Llorca, trawler captain who helped promote the project in the Alicante region, said: “We fishermen have a great commitment and respect to the sea. We are facing a global problem that threatens our ecosystem and human health. I hope we will continue to help find solutions together.”
selfless work of fishermen
During the presentation, Ecoembes Director of Communications and Marketing Nieves Rey highlighted the role fishermen play and the importance of more people’s commitment to rid marine ecosystems of litter: “The fishermen are the main protagonists of this project, because they are the fishermen who take care to collect the waste that falls into their nets with self-sacrificing work every day. and transporting them by ship to be collected in corresponding containers so that they can be recycled when they arrive at the port, thus giving them a second life. “We do it for a circular economy, a second life to waste recovered at sea”.
The event also featured the words of Andrea Ruzo, Director of the ECOALF Foundation: “Marine litter is a global problem and Recycling the Oceans shows how society as a whole should help clean up the oceans. In order to ensure the recycling of waste that will remain at the bottom of the sea forever, it is necessary to add citizen participation to the essential work of fishermen. Together we have the power to stop polluting the seas. The importance of this project lies in showing, hand in hand with science, that there are solutions to avoid and make visible a problem that is hidden at the bottom of the sea.”
Another key to the Oceans Upcycling is gaining knowledge through the study of marine litter to enrich existing knowledge of this problem and contribute to the search for solutions. So it is analyzed Through the Vertidos Cero Association’s MARNOBA Platform, garbage, Company that collects, stores and transmits information about marine litter from the coasts and seas of Spain.
Industrial packaging, food and cosmetic containers, or shopping bags are some examples of marine litter collected by fishermen Transforming the Oceans Forward in the past year. Continuing to analyze and learn from marine litter in collaboration with platforms such as MARNOBA, fishermen and trawling industries will be essential for the care and protection of the marine ecosystem. So by 2023, Recycling Oceans will continue to involve more people, educate more fishermen and collect as much garbage as possible from the seafloor to give it a second life.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]