Seafood sector shares ideas on reducing marine waste
The seafood development agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), which has collected more than 600 tonnes of old or damaged fishing nets for recycling, exchanged ideas with the sector for reducing the impact of marine waste on the environment at a recent workshop in Cork.
Harbour masters, net producers, representatives of recycling companies, and Government officials discussed the creation of a circular economy for fishing gear.
BIM, supported by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, hosted the event which marked a first for the industry.
Fishing gear, including nets, lines, pots and ropes, account for 27% of all beach litter but only 1.5% of gear is effectively recycled. BIM’s workshop encouraged all involved to facilitate recovery, reuse, and recycling of plastic material in fishing gear.
It formed part of a wider set of actions being taken by BIM under the Clean Oceans Initiative to tackle the growing problem of marine waste.
BIM sustainability and certification manager Catherine Morrison said the initiative is based on the premise of collaboration betwen the men and women who work in the fishing sector and in the wider seafood and other industries. This can effect change much faster by working together under a single shared vision. Partnerships are vital if we are to address the challenge of marine waste, she said.
Some 40 representatives from commercial organisations including Leinster Environmentals, Green Marine and Kingspan, who have committed to using secondary plastics in a drive to lower their carbon footprint, attended.
Catherine Barrett of BIM said it wants to look at the entire life-cycle of fishing gear — purchase, use, ‘retiring’, and recycling.
“This collective multi-industry focus will help us innovate and develop better end-of-use systems for gear such as nets to impact positively on the environment and on the economy,” she said.
Raising awareness of the need to protect the marine environment against plastic pollution was also BIM’s centrepiece at SeaFest in Cork.
Funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the installation included a 60kg plastic hut sculpture, representing the plastic packaging waste produced per person per year.
