Action 36: Fishing industry best practices
Action Title: Through a multinational project, together with the fishing industry and competent authorities develop and promote best practice in relation to marine litter. All relevant aspects (including e.g. dolly rope, waste management on board, waste management at harbours and operational losses/net cuttings) should be included.
Lead Party(ies): Sweden and the United Kingdom, the Netherlands with participation of Germany and Norway
what is the issue?
Both unintentional and intentional loss of fishing gear at sea result in marine litter and negative environmental impacts. The gear are made from a range of materials including a number of plastics. The supply chain for fishing gear is complex and country‐specific, with many different parties involved at various stages. There is currently little information known about this supply chain.
Currently in the OSPAR Maritime Area, a small proportion of fishing gear is recycled at end‐of‐life and various barriers exist. This action aimed to look at options for addressing the design and recyclability of fishing gear.
What has OSPAR done?
The OSPAR project on the design and recycling of fishing gear (DRFG) was a consultative process. Several options were identified for next steps to reduce the amount of fishing gear that ends up as marine litter within the OSPAR Maritime Area
The project contributed to the European Commission’s work to develop a standard for the design of fishing gear (a requirement under the SUP Directive), including through the sharing of information, as well as by helping to identify appropriate experts to consult.
Final outputs and published reports
ACTION COMPLETED
Report published in 2017 on “ A Review of Marine Litter Management Practices for the Fishing Industry”
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Net cuttings waste from fishing in the North-East Atlantic: best practices for mitigation
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2nd report on Best practices to reduce marine litter from net cuttings waste
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Fishing nets on the coastline of the Arctic and North-East Atlantic: a source analysis
