A three-year E.U.-funded trial will attempt to reduce marine plastics through a circular fishing gear program.
The Searcular project, led by Spanish research institute AZTI, brings together fishers, gear manufacturers, and researchers to implement end-of-life solutions for old gear and develop sustainable gear options for the future.
“Searcular’s solutions will facilitate the reduction of the fishing industry’s contribution to marine litter and microplastics by enabling the implementation of innovative, circular approaches to gear production, use, and end-of-life management,” AZTI Project Coordinator Oihane C. Basurko said. “Working with industry partners and stakeholders is the key element to this and will ensure the project delivers practical solutions that work for the marine environment and fishers across Europe.”
There are four main initiatives currently being studied under the project: recycled dolly ropes, bio-seine ropes, eco-fish aggregating devices (FADs), and circular port-based gear solutions.
Traditional dolly ropes used by trawlers fray easily, leaving microplastics as they break down, and thousands of tons of these ropes are discarded at sea each year. One Searcular project involves reconditioning purse-seine nets that have reached the end of their usefulness to manufacture tougher dolly ropes that will be less likely to break down or be quickly discarded.
Another project is testing a new rope coating made from biodegradable polymers for seiners that could replace the steel ropes that are traditionally coated in synthetic fibers. The bio-seine ropes would release fewer microplastics into the environment and last longer because they are more resistant to friction.
Eco-FADs are also under testing by Searcular.
Purse-seine tuna-fishing vessels often discard the FADs they use, which are typically made of hard plastic, in the ocean. These FADs often accumulate in sensitive marine locations like reefs. Searcular is testing a jelly FAD device to combat this problem, which is a biodegradable alternative to hard plastic FADs that have a shorter lifespan but aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste that accumulates in marine habitats.
The final program being tested by Searcular involves circular port-based gear solutions.
This entails recycling, sorting, and reconditioning gear at the end of its life. Although ports in the E.U. are already required to do this kind of sorting, they often do not have the necessary facilities to successfully recycle old and discarded gear. Thousands of tons of fishing gear ends up in landfills each year, and Searcular is hoping to change that by designing, developing, and testing blue points, which collect, sort, and condition gear, simplifying the collection process and guiding waste managers on the best local practice for the handling and treatment of fishing gear waste.
"Clean seas and healthy marine environments are crucial to our livelihoods at sea as fishermen," Rune Sand, a skipper on the vessel Fortuna and who has been involved in the project, said. "It is of great importance to us as fishers that we are able to switch to biodegradable seine ropes and help decrease the microplastics released from conventional ropes. Fishers have unique knowledge to contribute, which is why we are working closely with Searcular to develop practical solutions that we can adopt onboard; as a seine fisher, I am keen to help overcome the problem of plastic pollution and keep the industry at sea.”
