Lost fishing gear recovered in Baltic Sea pilot project

An environmental pilot project in the Baltic Sea has successfully located and begun recovering 51 pieces of lost fishing gear from the seabed. The operation, which focused on areas with historically high fishing activity, covered a significant area of roughly 38 square kilometers, comparable to over 5,300 football fields.

The search, conducted primarily in the Lübeck, Flensburg, and Kiel bays, yielded 39 fragments of gillnets, eleven lines of eel traps, and one fish trap. Schleswig-Holstein's Ministries for Agriculture and Environment announced the findings, highlighting the ongoing efforts to address marine pollution from discarded fishing equipment.

Cornelia Schmachtenberg, the Minister of Fisheries, stated, "Every net lost in the water is one too many." However, she noted that the project recovered slightly fewer fishing nets than initially expected. The ministries also pointed out that fishermen have a strong economic incentive to retain their gear, minimizing losses.

So far, 41 of the lost items have been retrieved. The recovery process involved a combination of sonar mapping, diving operations, and targeted salvage. Divers investigated 185 suspected locations, though many turned out to be debris such as scrap metal, wood, concrete, or even munitions, rather than fishing gear. The project's focus on traditional fishing grounds aimed to tackle a persistent source of marine debris.

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Every net lost in the water is one too many.