BlackNETs

Description:

The BlackNETs "Exorcising the Black Sea's Silent Killers" Project (BSB00164) under the Interreg-NEXT programme EU cross-border cooperation, 2021-2027.  The project duration is 18 months (start date: 27/06/2024; end date: 26/12/2025). The project is led by Ecological Nongovernmental Organization Mare Nostrum (Romania), and the partner countries are Karadeniz Technical University - Faculty of Marine Sciences (Turkey), Institute of Oceanology-Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria), and LEPL Ilia State University (Georgia). The total budget of the project is 410.994,23 Euro. Partner countries fund 10% of the total budget. In the BlackNETs project, the total budget of KTU is 128.485,0 Euro, and 90% of the budget is funded by Interreg and 10% by KTU (Interreg budget: 115.636,0 Euro; KTU budget: 12.848,50 Euro).

International, multilateral efforts are needed to address and mitigate the adverse transboundary ecological and socioeconomic impacts of marine abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), which have increased rapidly, especially in the last decade. Ghost nets and gear are among the most dangerous types of marine litter.  To solve the problem of ghost nets, it is not enough to understand only the size and nature of the problem. It is also important to examine and demonstrate whether current management and mitigation strategies and practices are adequate to address this complex problem. Many studies have shown that ghost nets have significant detrimental impacts on marine habitats and wildlife. Nets and fishing gear are the main cause of entanglement of fish, seabirds, and marine mammals in solid waste, more so than other types of marine litter, such as plastics (ALDFG).

Despite efforts to identify the causes and impacts of the loss, abandonment, or discarding of nets and fishing gear, there are significant knowledge gaps regarding the ‘quantities and rates of ghost nets (ALDFG)’ as well as the ‘type, quantity and level of impact on damaged fishing grounds and fish’. Despite the information gaps, there is no doubt that derelict fishing gears pose a serious threat to the ecosystem health of the Black Sea.

The BlackNETs project aims to quantify and minimise the impact of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) on the Black Sea ecosystem. The objectives of the project are to eliminate at least 8000 kg of ALDFG from the Black Sea waters through pilot actions in each partner country (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia), to create an awareness guide for the prevention, reduction and removal of ghost nets and fishing gear in the Black Sea, to map the areas where ghost nets and gear are found, to raise public awareness through training and seminars, events and campaigns, to improve cooperation with public institutions and the fishing sector.  These activities will facilitate further actions and steps to save the Black Sea from the threat of ghost nets and marine litter. The project will promote voluntary collection of ghost nets through training and awareness-raising activities, capacity building, and information sharing to create behavioural changes in stakeholders connected to the fishing sector to minimise the loss of fishing gear and promote good practices.

Information about the BlackNETs Project can be accessed through this link.

The official web page of the project can be accessed through this link.