Two fishermen from the Danish port of Ebeltoft are making an effort to clear their local fishing grounds of marine plastic waste – particularly lost fishing gear that can become ghost gear.
Jens Olsen and Peter Olsen spend most of their time at sea. As well as catching fish, their focus is also on collecting old nets and other waste.
‘I like being part of the generation that cleans things up, instead of only being part of those who have helped screw things up,’ said Jens Olsen.
Their project I/S Dannebrog’s collection of marine waste in the western Kattegat and the Belt consists of 60 trips. The two skippers search a sea area of approx. 800 square kilometres along the shores of Djursland, from Glatved in the north to the northern tip of Samsø in the south.
Ebeltoft fishing vessel Margrethe AS30 is the platform used to collect this lost gear.
Jens Olsen explained that they decide which areas to cover, based on their experience of where there has been regular fishing activity.
‘After all, we have been fishing for many years, for several generations, so we know roughly where fishing has been done and nets have been set, and so on,’ he said, acknowledging that it hasn’t always been easy.
‘In a forest you can see which trees need to be felled. But you can’t look below the surface of the sea in the same way, so the standard for success has been that it was possible to get something up at all.’
They have been successful enough so far to fill a large container on the quayside at Ebeltoft fishing harbour, where this processed for recycling, and what can’t be recycled is incinerated or becomes landfill.
The project runs from 12th April 2023 to 17th July 2025, partly funded by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EHFAF) and partly with state funding.
The Danish Fisheries Agency has just reopened another grant scheme under the EHFAF programme, which can be applied for up to 15th September 2024. Authorities, research institutions, companies, industry organisations and NGOs can apply for grants for projects that aim to collect marine waste from fishing.
Images: Frisk fisk Ebeltoft
