The port of Hirtshals is the backdrop to trials with biodegradeable nets, part of a six-year project testing the nets and the decomposition rates in and around the harbour.
The Biogarn project is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Danish Fisheries Agency, with researchers from DTU Aqua sailing with several local fishermen to test biodegradable nets made of PBSAT polymer, a thermoplastic biodegradable plastic type, for cod and plaice fisheries.
‘The biodegradable fishing net is produced in Asia and is therefore primarily adapted to the Asian climate, which differs a great deal from European and especially Scandinavian conditions. It is therefore important to test which biodegradable materials are suitable for these waters. Fortunately, the fishermen in Hirtshals have been very interested in letting us know what they need,’ said Esther Savina, a DTU Aqua researcher in Hirtshals.
‘For us as fishermen, it is absolutely crucial that the nets must be able to withstand the rigours of fishing. The nets we have tested so far are not as durable as traditional nylon nets, but we are happy to contribute our knowledge and experience to what biodegradable fishing nets should be able to do. We can only solve the problem with the nets if it makes practical and economic sense in everyday life’ commented Niels Kristian Nielsen, chairman of Hirtshals Fishermen’s Association.
Gear lost at sea can contribute to ghost fishing, and the Dsolve project, which is Norwegian-funded and led by UiT Norway’s Arctic University, I smonitoring the decomposition time of fishing nets placed on the bottom of the harbor in Hirtshals.
‘There’s a big difference in both temperatures and bacteria in European waters, so it is important to learn more about how biodegradable nets perform in different places and how quickly the nets are degraded. We are also testing in Germany, Croatia and Norway, as well as in Denmark and specifically Hirtshals. So far, the nets are not breaking down as quickly as expected, but we are gaining valuable insights into what characterises a good fishing net, which in the long term can contribute to the development of less environmentally harmful and highly functional nets,’ said Rikke Petri Frandsen, associate professor at DTU Aqua in Hirtshals.
For the Port of Hirtshals, it makes sense to be involved in the work to reduce plastic waste in the form of fishing nets in the oceans.
‘Marine litter from fishing is an enormous challenge, which of course cannot be solved overnight,’ said Port of Hirtshals CEO Per Holm Nørgaard.
‘But if we can in some way contribute to people becoming more aware of what is needed to reduce the plastic pollution of our oceans – for example by testing different types of fishing nets on the bottom of the harbor or with the fishermen – we would of course be more than happy to do so.’
