Healthy Seas? Stop ghost-fishing! North Sea - RAC Ate Oostra Berlin, October 2012

Participating organisations: Vereniging Kust & Zee (Dutch Branch of Coastal & Marine Union - EUCC) Duik de Noordzee Schoon (voluntary divers) North Sea Foundation Sportvisserij Nederland Project is funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery (NPL) The “100 wrecks clean up project”, part of the “Healthy Sea Programme”

Facts: Thousands of shipwrecks are present in the North Sea (e.g. over 3000 in the Dutch part alone) Gradual disappearance of the seafloor’s hard substrate (rocks and pebbles), makes wrecks increasingly important to plants and animals A wrack is home to appr. 250 species of which 90% is not present at the sandy seafloor at all Shipwrecks are true biological hotspots! However, nets of the fishing industry and lines and lead weights of anglers get stuck, causing littering and ghost- fishing

This is how littered shipwrecks look like

Facts: Appr kg of fishing nets are presently removed annually (<33 cleaned wrecks only, and there are thousands of wrecks present) “Catching capacity of static cod-gear over a wreck continued for 2 years at low level" ("The catching capacity of lost static gears“, Mike Pawson. CEFAS # 33. HT UK.) Considerable quanties of lead (hundreds of tons of lead weights) are lost at wrecks annually,Dutch North Sea only Fish and crabs get caught and die…

Project Gezonde Zee: wrakken vol leven

The joint project: Divers clean up 100 shipwrecks in the Dutch North-Sea ( ) Meetings with stakeholders and policy makers to formulate new policies to address the issue Development of new materials: alternatives to lead, lead weights and fishlines (biolines) Production of films and photos Informing the public at large

Project Gezonde Zee: wrakken vol leven

Cleaning up wrecks

How could we help the sea, yourself and us? Avoid fishing too closely to shipwrecks, neither with e.g. bottom trawling nets nor gill-nets Do not lose nets Could we jointly try to develop the right policy? contact us to this end! if possible before 10 th of November when a meeting of stakeholders is envisaged. Further information can be obtained at, Mike Mannaart, Project Manager:

Thank you for your attention QUESTIONS?