Kategorie: News
Get the nets - get set, go!
Garbage in the sea - that's not just plastic bottles or packaging, but also abandoned fishing nets that float in the depths of the oceans and catch fish and other marine animals in an uncontrolled manner. They are torn loose from fishing vessels, lost in high seas or even deliberately dumped in the sea.
German divers have set off in search of ghost nets off the East Frisian Islands in the North Sea. As part of the "Ghost Nets East Frisia" project, Ghost Diving Germany volunteers are searching for fishing nets that have been lost in the North Sea and now pose a threat to wildlife and the environment. They recovered the first approximately 50 kilos of stray nets yesterday. The week-long project is intended to make a small contribution to environmental protection and to draw attention to the problem of garbage in the seas.
Each year, an estimated 640,000 tons of fishing gear remain in the oceans. This has dramatic consequences: Fish caught in the ghost nets attract larger animals, so that harbor porpoises, seals or grey seals have also been found in the nets.
"The (ghost) nets continue to do what they were built for, which is to trap animals, and they do so very unselectively," said biologist Lars Gutow of the Alfred Wegener Institute at the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. "Fish and other marine life get caught in the lost nets and die. The nets, which are made of plastic, rub across the bottom and disrupt the marine ecosystem. Additionally, they hardly degrade at all," Gutow said.
The animals entangled in the nets suffocate in agony. Other animals, in turn, mistake the nets or parts of them for food. This became clear in 2016 when entire nets were even found in the stomachs of stranded sperm whales on the North Sea coast.
Recovery of ghost nets off the East Frisian Islands
In the first week of May, there should be a few less when the divers of "Ghost Diving Germany" dive down behind the East Frisian Islands during one week to recover the stray nets from the depths of the North Sea. Together with bessergrün and tauch.versicherung, "Ghost Diving Germany" is campaigning to clean up the North Sea in their joint project "Ostfriesland". While in other seas various environmental protection organizations have long since salvaged the stray nets, no one is currently doing it in the North Sea.
The reasons for this are obvious: even for the experienced divers of "Ghost Diving Germany", the planned salvage operation is unlikely to be a walk (dive) in the park. "The North Sea is one of the most challenging diving areas of all," knows Timo Vierow from tauch.versicherung. Strong currents, murky visibility and the interplay of tides are a challenge even for experienced underwater athletes. The insurance broker knows what he is talking about - he is an expert. As a passionate diver, he has tailored his brokerage activities to the target group of divers.
Marine protection, on the other hand, is new to bessergrün. So far, the sustainable marketplace has usually planted a tree - now the focus for an ecological contribution is extended to the sea. The idea for this had come to Timo Vierow in conversation with Henning Bernau of NV Versicherungen and bessergrün, who already put together a special concept for divers in the household insurance.
"We can take a look at the North Sea every day. To protect these with such projects is natural for us," says Bernau, who was also able to inspire the North Sea spa Carolinensiel-Harlesiel for the project. "A healthy North Sea is important to us and if we can help with it, we do that naturally gladly", says Kai cook, the managing director of the North Sea bath Carolinensiel-Harlesiel GmbH.
The project to recover ghost nets began this week. The diving team already recovered about 50 kilos of ownerless nets on Wednesday. We will continue to report on the project.
See also:
taucher.net/diveinside-ghost_nets_-_a_worldwide_threat