How fisheries and aquaculture facilities impact the Baltic Sea Region, looking at plastics specifically.
Malin and Jane explore the impact of lost, discarded or abandoned fishing gear and what action is taken from a global to local scale to stop it with Inger Melander, Expert Fisheries and Market at WWF. The talk is framed around these questions:
Q1: How is lost or abandoned fishing gear a problem? (01:16)
Q2: Do you know of any initiatives working to reduce the amount of lost or abandoned fishing gear globally? (03:04)
Q3: What are some of the most common reasons to lose, discard or abandon fishing gear? (04:40)
Q4: How could it be prevented? (06:30)
Q5: How could the EPR (extended producer responsibility) be applied in this context, reduce marine plastic pollution? 07:20)
Q6: What are the most common ways of operating fish farms in the Baltic Region? (08:36)
Q7: What kind of waste and litter could you expect from an aquaculture facility in the Baltic Sea? (10:13)
LINKS AND SOURCES
Frameworks
EPR fishing gear (position paper IUCN)
Best-practice framework for the management of aquaculture gear
Reports
Stopping Ghost Gear | Projects | WWF (worldwildlife.org)
New Report from WWF Says Addressing Abandoned Fishing Gear Must be Central in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution | Press Releases | WWF (worldwildlife.org)
Stop Ghost Gear: The Most Deadly Form of Marine Plastic Debris | Publications | WWF (worldwildlife.org)
Stoppa plastföroreningarna! - Världsnaturfonden WWF
Removal of derelict fishing gear | WWF (panda.org)
EU SUP Directive -- EU’s Directive on single-use plastics
Single-use plastics (europa.eu)
EUR-Lex - 32019L0904 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)
EU Council Regulation No.1224/2009 (article 48): EUR-Lex - 32009R1224 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)
International Agreements and Conventions
United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): UNCLOS - Table of Contents
Marpol: MARPOL (imo.org)
London Convention and Protocol: Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (imo.org)
Non-binding Guidelines and Resolutions
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), The Code for responsible Fisheries (CCRF 1995): FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture - Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards (2011)
International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU; 2001)
FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear (VGMFG; 2019)
Credits
Artwork: Giancarlo Mitidieri
Jingle: Frans Sjöberg
Malin:
This is the podcast where we are following the progress of transforming the market on plastic products and packaging in Sweden. Ultimately moving away from taking, making and wasting to a circular plastics economy. I'm Malin Leth and I'm the host, and today we have Inger Melander with us, expert fisheries and market at WWF in Sweden.
Malin:
In this episode, we'll talk about fisheries and aquaculture and the leakage, looking at the products that are used in the operations, and with the leakage, I mean what's ending up in the ocean. Jane, you're joining us for the interview today with Inger. Let's dive right into it.
Jane:
I'm thinking about the lost or abandoned fishing gear. How is it a problem or why is it a problem, Inger?
Inger:
It's estimated that ghost gear makes up at least 10% of the marine litter, and it's one of the deadliest forms of marine plastic debris. If you look at the impacts, approximately 66% of marine mammals, 50% of sea birds and all species of sea turtles are negatively impacted by marine debris. It's also estimated that somewhere between five and 30% of the global harvest of wild fish stocks are also killed by ghost gear. Besides these problems that I mentioned, it's also destroying wildlife vital marine habitats, and these habitats or an intact resilient ocean could also help us tackle climate change.
Inger:
This loss of biodiversity and loss of important habitats and ecosystems, renders the ocean vulnerable and impaired and also less resilient. Hence, won't be as able to adapt to climate change. Also, what is really important to remember is that approximately three billion people in the world rely on wild-caught and food as their primary source of protein. Also, the ghost gear can also have a negative impact on the coral reefs, seagrass, meadows, and mangroves, and all of these ecosystems or habitats are very important nursery reproduction areas for numerous species.
Malin:
Inger, do you know of any initiatives working to mitigate or to reduce the amount of lost abandoned fishing gear globally?
Inger:
There is an initiative GGGI, which stands for the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, and it is, is an international, world-spanning organization. They work together with ... it's like a cross-sectoral. They work with NGOs. They work with companies. They work with the fisheries - they work with the aquaculture sector, sorry. They have three aims. Number one is to improve the health of marine systems, number two, to safeguard human health and livelihoods, and then number three, to protect marine life from harm. Their goal is to mitigate and reduce the amount of ghost gear that is found in our oceans.
Malin:
Then we might see some work on that also in the Baltic region, but maybe not yet?
Inger:
Maybe not yet, but once people know about the organization, that could also work as an incentive to contact them and start looking at the situation in the Baltic, because I have a number of around 5,000 to 10,000 gill net pieces is lost in the Baltic Sea annually. There is a problem in the Baltic as well, but in comparison, I guess, to the situation globally, not that much has really been done about the plastic situation or the ghost gear situation in the Baltic historically.
Malin:
Inger, what are some of the most common reasons to lose, discard or abandon fishing gear?
Inger:
Most of them are because of snagging, so that the equipment will either snag onto boulders or reefs or maybe, shipwrecks. Then also we have environmental factors, so that could be different weather conditions, ice, storm, currents, waves, rough weather, and then we have conflicts, and that could entail when other vessels trolling in the same fishing area, that they collide accidentally. It could also be theft or sabotage. Then we also have discarded. That means that you have damaged gear, or you might have too much gear for the space that you have available onboard, so you throw it overboard. Economical pressure, littering. Sometimes if you have gear that becomes broken, you may just toss it overboard. Then also, sometimes it could be abandoned, and that's something that you can find if it's IUU fishing, illegal fishing, or if you have the wrong type of gear for a certain fishing trip. There are many different reasons, but a lot of it is often that it snags onto underwater are objects.
Malin:
Yeah. Wow. Then it seems like there is a lot of action happening out at sea, both with colliding fishing vessels, and I don't know, whatnot. But then I'm thinking because of the many reasons behind it, do you have any examples of how could it be prevented?
Inger:
First of all, if you have an accident or if you by chance lose your fishing gear, that you should call the respective authorities and let them know that you had an accident with your gear. You could also improve the gear marking system, enhance retrieval procedures. Also, with education to raise awareness of the damage that's caused by ghost gear. You can have a look at the different fishing strategies, see if they need to be revised, and also improve gear construction.
Jane:
I'm thinking that we are within the scope of the EPR, Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme. How is the EPR applied in the context to reduce marine plastic pollution?
Inger:
Well, if you have a look at the legislation from the European Union, this rule applies not to the fishermen, but to the actual producer of the fishing gear. They currently have three bullet points. Producers should cover the cost of separating the collection of waste fishing gear containing plastic that has been delivered to different port reception facilities in accordance with the directive. They should also conduct or work with awareness-raising measures. Then also, if this fishing gear or plastic is dropped off at the ports, then they should also be responsible for transport and treatment or recycling of them.
Malin:
Do you have any concrete examples of how this works in practice in the Baltic region?
Inger:
In the European Union, we have a fund called European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, and they have financial aid for different areas. But one of these areas actually targets the retrieval of lost gear. That is one way that you could apply for funding from the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. Then if we look closer to home, to Sweden, we have SwAM which is the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management. They have recently developed a tool that's called Ghost Gear for reporting found or lost fishing gear. If you as a private person, if you come across or find abandoned or lost fishing gear, then you can report it, and on their web page, they have a link to this tool that's called the Ghost Gear.
Malin:
Inger, I'm thinking about the aquaculture as well in the Baltic region. What do you say would be the most common way of operating fish farms in the Baltic Sea region?
Inger:
Well, in the Baltic this is a brackish ecosystem. We really don't have that many aquaculture farms. The Finnish have rainbow trout farms around Åland, and then you have a couple of blue mussel farms, but that's more on a scientific pilot study level. Most of the aquaculture that takes place in the Baltic ecoregion is inland waters, agriculture production.
Inger:
But then of course there may be plastic or trays or nets. There has been, maybe not in the Baltic, but in other regions, if you have a look at it globally that we have begun to discover and recognize that aquaculture also contributes to the plastic litter problem in the world. It's not necessarily such a big concern in the Baltic yet, but it's always good to take precautionary measures to prevent it from becoming so.
Malin:
There might be a link of also sources of aquaculture related litter reaching the Baltic Sea from the aquaculture that's in the area?
Inger:
Exactly.
Malin:
Yeah. If we then go a little deeper into that question, what kind of waste and litter could you expect from an aquaculture facility in the Baltic Sea? You mentioned a few examples, but do you have any more?
Inger:
This is not necessarily the Baltic, but if you look at aquaculture in general, you could expect debris or plastic pollution of nets, floats, buoys, ropes, collecting materials, strapping materials, it could be clothing, cover materials, tags. It could also be from the aquaculture feed, but that would be more like storage. Things like that is what you could expect to find. But once again, if this is true for the Baltic, I honestly haven't been able to find any documentation.
Malin:
Yeah.
Malin:
So it would be for aquaculture in general?
Inger:
In general. Exactly.
Malin:
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Then there seem to be some similarities to the fisheries that we're talking about at the beginning of the interview. What sorts of products could be at risk of being discarded or reaching the ocean?
Inger:
Exactly. It could be similar, but the thing with the fisheries is that that is an active process or an active activity going on, so that you're dragging the nets through the water above, or maybe on the bottom habitat. Therefore, it's a much higher risk of your fishing nets getting snagged onto different objects or bottom substrates.
Malin:
Yeah.
Inger:
But then again, if you have a lot of aquaculture farms, I guess, along the shoreline you could expect to have marine litter coming from those farms rather than the fisheries.
Jane:
For this episode, we have a long list of links where you can learn even more about the different initiatives that we have been talking about. You'll find everything from EPR schemes, ghost gear reports, international agreements and conventions, non-binding guidelines and resolutions, and the SUP directive. Check it out.