"Improving fishing practices in the Southern Black Sea region and raising awareness in terms of lost and abandoned fishing gear"

The project «Improving fishing practices in the Southern Black Sea region and raising awareness in terms of lost and abandoned fishing gear» provides for two large-scale campaigns - one communication and one for cleaning up the litter from the sea. In addition, the project will train the fishermen and port agents from the District of Burgas to act on the detection of lost / abandoned fishing gear and response to the detection of poaching practices at sea. Studies show that some types of plastic lost fishing gear do not decompose in the wild for up to 600 years, continuing to catch and kill marine animals before eventually breaking down into microplastics and ending their journey down the food chain. These miniature plastic granules are already widely found in the water and sediments of the seas and oceans and have a potential toxic effect on the food chain, which has only recently begun to be studied by scientists around the world. The cumulative long-term effect of lost and / or abandoned fishing gear, as it turns out, significantly harms the marine life as well as humans and directly affect industries that are dependent on the balance and health of marine ecosystems. When an animal is caught in this abandoned gear and dies, it begins to decompose, which attracts other marine creatures that feed on it. These predators or scavengers can also fall into the trap, which closes this deadly cycle, which can last for decades or even hundreds of years. There is a growing body of evidence showing that abandoned or lost fishing gear has a significant negative impact on the health of the marine life and ocean ecosystem in a broad sense.

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