COLLECTING GHOST NETS IN THE BALTIC SEA - WWF

Fig. 2 A reference map of waters within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Lithuania
The most important conclusions and recommendations
based on the experience and data acquired:
1. The results of operations using towed equipment
are distinctly different. Apart from the obvious
dissimilarities related to the amounts of
fishing gear remaining on the sea bottom, it is
also connected with the selection of the vessel
in Lithuania and experience of the hired crews.
2. To achieve better effects in terms of environmental
protection, operations in Lithuania
should focus on shipwrecks.
3. It is necessary to further analyse the issue of
recycling the retrieved nets in Lithuania. It does
not seem feasible to use all of them as museum
exhibits or decorations in the future.
6. Polish crews participating in the project have
already been thoroughly trained. It is recommended
to organise another face-to-face meeting
with Lithuanian fishermen.
The results of the survey
conducted in Lithuania show that
Lithuanian fishermen put much effort
in recovering the lost.
4. It would be worthwhile to analyse the demand
for the disposal of nets (and other plastic waste)
in Lithuania using technologies employed in
Poland, including pyrolysis.
5. The results of the survey conducted in Lithuania
show that Lithuanian fishermen put much effort
in recovering the lost (broken) nets by themselves.
Many Polish crews use different devices
of their own invention (“searching hooks”), but it
is necessary to popularise the most useful solutions,
tailored to the size and equipment of each
vessel.
© WWF / P. Necel
FINAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED IN 2012
21