Kategorie: News
Three hundred kilograms of ghost nets recovered from wrecks in German North Sea
Investigations by wreck divers around the island of Norderney have shown that pollution from fishing is putting a strain on the ecosystem of the German North Sea. Numerous shipwrecks lie on the seabed in this area - three of them were re-examined from September 13 to 16 and freed from 300 kilograms of so-called ghost nets.
The Healthy Seas organization has been working with Ghost Diving volunteers in several European countries since 2013 to remove ghost nets from reefs and wrecks. With the volunteer organization's German chapter recently established, the time was right to expand these challenging marine cleanups to Germany.
"Every year, an estimated 640,000 tons of fishing gear is lost or left behind in the world's seas and oceans. As a result, millions of marine animals suffer or die. To help curb this pollution, we dove down to 20 to 25 meters in September. Our goal: to remove around 300 kg of fishing nets that covered the wrecks of the MS Änne Ursula, the outpost boat 812 and the SS Elsa off Norderney," explains Kai Wallasch, coordinator at Ghost Diving Germany.
The divers observed a variety of marine life, including squid and shark eggs, clinging to the nets around the wrecks. They were able to free several animals from the nets, such as starfish, North Sea crabs, butterfish, velvet crabs and spider crabs. Animals were also spotted on the water's surface, including several harbor seals near the submersible and a harbor porpoise.
"The enthusiasm and commitment of the team was fantastic! Despite the challenging weather and quite high waves, we were able to dive three days in a row, which is very unusual for this part of the world," reports Derk Remmers, coordinator at Ghost Diving Germany.
The three-day cleanup project was also made possible thanks to the group Tidal Divers, which has been identifying and surveying the wrecks for the past several years, and Hyundai Motor Europe, which announced its partnership with Healthy Seas in April. The company provides funding for Healthy Seas to conduct clean-ups and educational activities. Actor and Hyundai Motor Germany brand ambassador Lenn Kudrjawizki also joined the clean-up on Norderney to support the team above water and help release the animals. The next action in Germany will take place in October on the island of Sylt.
Healthy Seas is a best practice example of the circular economy and ensures that the removed nets become a new raw material. The nylon pieces are regenerated by Aquafil along with other nylon waste into ECONYL® yarn, which forms the basis for new sustainable products such as swimwear, sportswear, socks and carpets.
About Healthy Seas
The mission of the Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear initiative is to rid the oceans of waste, particularly fishing nets, with the goal of creating healthier oceans and recycling marine debris into textile products. The salvaged fishing nets are processed and upcycled by Aquafil into ECONYL® yarn, a high-quality raw material used to create new products such as socks, swimwear, sportswear and carpets. Since its inception in 2013, Healthy Seas has been able to collect over 585 tons of fishing nets with the help of volunteer divers and fishermen.
About Ghost Diving
Ghost Diving is an international non-profit organization of volunteer technical divers that has specialized in the removal of lost fishing gear and other marine debris since 2009. To date, the Ghost Diving team has conducted diving projects independently or in collaboration with quite a few international environmental and/or diving organizations, such as: Healthy Seas Foundation, Greenpeace, WWF, Global Ghost Gear Initiative and Global Underwater Explorers.