To illustrate the importance of small-scale fishing and to highlight the damage that lost and abandoned fishing gear can have on coastal communities, Turkish supermarket chain CarrefourSA, a subsidiary of Sabancı Holding and Carrefour Group, recently launched a campaign titled, “If fishing dies, Ocaklar dies.”
Ocaklar, a Turkish coastal town in the Balıkesir Erdek district, is one of many Turkish villages to be affected by “ghost gear,” which are nets and other gear left over from fishing activities that can destroy marine habitats and put the livelihoods of communities at risk, according to Cagla Yalcinkaya, the brand director at Turkish agency TBWA\Istanbul, which carried out the campaign on behalf of CarrefourSA.
Using lost nets taken from the ocean, on 27 February, TBWA\Istanbul turned Ocaklar into a town overrun by ghost gear; the installation remained in place for three days. The project was accompanied by a video that features the voices of veteran fishers, young people, and local residents who emphasize the urgency of taking action for the protection of the sea.
Preparations for the campaign took about 18 months, Yalcinkaya said, telling SeafoodSource that the residents of the town were excited by the project and keen to contribute to it.
The agency said the intention was to use a powerful visual message to highlight the pressing need to protect marine ecosystems and to illustrate that when abandoned, fishing nets can sink to the seabed and prevent fish from reproducing. This, it said, could eventually “turn a once-thriving fishing town into a ghost town.”
“While the scene is not yet a reality, it serves as a stark warning about a potential future, with the ghost town created with ghost nets symbolizing what could come if no action is taken,” she said.
Commenting on the campaign, CarrefourSA CEO Kutay Kartallıoğlu stated that while the retailer strives to ensure Turkish consumers can purchase sustainable seafood, there’s also a collective responsibility to ensure that future generations have access to fisheries.
The key to this is responsible fishing, Kartallıoğlu said.
“Through our investments in sustainable marine resources, we emphasize not only the importance of keeping the seas clean but also the responsibility of protecting the ecosystem,” he said. “With the 'Ghost Town' project in Ocaklar, we want to demonstrate that the sea is not just an economic resource but an essential element for the sustainability of life."
In addition to the campaign, CarrefourSA, which operates in 70 provinces with 1,200 stores, including franchise locations, has been providing Turkish fishers with training on sustainability issues and has initiated a number of environmental clean-up projects. It has also launched a website called “Ghost Nets” that houses educational videos on the topic of lost fishing gear.
Several other groups are working on combating the issue of ghost gear in the world’s oceans.
Australia recently joined the Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) and pledged AUD 1.4 million (USD 930,000, EUR 850,000) toward regional action on net use in the Arafura and Timor seas. It became the 24th national government to join the initiative, the members of which also include retailers, seafood companies, restaurant chains, universities, NGOs, and more.
