Compressed final version press kit

The project is co-funded by the European Union, Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

DeFishGear

Press Kit

“The Adriatic coast and sea – litter free!”

DeFishGear-challanging voyage of seeing the same

Sea from different corners.

Andrej Kržan,

Project coordinator

The project is co-funded by the European Union,

Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

Derelict Fishing Gear management system in the Adriatic Region

www.defishgear.net

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Building Blocks of the DeFishGear Project:

Project title:

Derelict Fishing Gear Management System in the Adriatic Region

project website:

https://www.defishgear.net

facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/defishgear

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_9waB-

DfrK0vz2ZkNdXrpA/feed

Lead partner organisation:

National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana,

Slovenia

Project coordinator:

Andrej Kržan

[email protected]

Project manager:

Nataša Juvančič

[email protected]

Key facts about the project:

Project theme: Improving marine, coastal and delta rivers environment by joint management in the Adriatic region.

Project duration: 1/11/2013 - 31/3/2016

Countries involved: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia

Number of project partners: 16

Project budget: 5,353,765 €

Funding instrument: IPA Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme




www.defishgear.net

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DeFishGear in General

Bits of facts about marine litter

What is marine

litter?

Marine litter is any manufactured or processed

solid material discarded in the marine and coastal

environment.

Marine litter poses a major threat to marine

ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea due to its

environmental, economic, safety, health and

cultural impacts.

Effects of

Marine litter

It has a negative impact on vital economical

sectors such as fisheries, aquaculture, navigation,

energy and tourism.

Knowledge vacuum about marine litter trends

makes marine litter even more pervasive and

persistent threat, which strives for effective and

sustainable solutions.

© Jasna Šiljid




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Project Overarching Goal

The DeFishGear project aims to facilitate the efforts of policy makers and stakeholders in effectively

dealing with the issue of marine litter in the Adriatic Macro Region, towards litter free coast and sea.

Main Expected Results

Improved knowledge based on the occurrence, amounts, sources and impacts (including

socio-economic impacts) of all types of marine litter including micro-plastics in the Adriatic;

Harmonized marine litter monitoring activities in the Adriatic and enhanced collaboration as a

building block for future actions;

A strengthened and reinforced science-policy interface to support the integration of sound

science into policy and decision making in effectively tackling marine litter;

Joint, coordinated and/or complementary schemes to manage human activities generating

litter in the Adriatic Sea and strengthened implementation of relevant policy frameworks

(MSFD, ICZM, ECAP, MSP, etc.) at the regional level.

Project Dissemination

Project dissemination will strongly rely on awareness raising and educational activities, which among

other will include the clean-up campaigns, workshops, seminars, conferences, and summer school for

the University students and schoolchildren. The aim of these activities is to deepen public

understanding on the issue of marine litter and catalyze change in their perceptions and attitudes

towards waste.

Target groups:

Policy makers, Fishermen,

Research Institutions, Recycling industry,

NGOs Local Community

Stakeholders:

Fishermen, Industries: aquaculture, tourism, and transportation,

recycling industry; Authorities: local, regional, national and supra-

national; Research community, fishermen, and general public.

Through the implementation of the DeFishGear Project, marine litter in the Adriatic coastal waters will be reduced by involving fishermen as one

of the key factors for marine litter cause and solution.




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Marine Litter Threat

Marine litter is one of the major threats to marine ecosystems in the

Mediterranean sea with environmental, economic, safety and health as well as cultural impacts;

Marine litter related data are sporadic and limited in terms of time and space when it comes to individual countries;

Enforcement of relevant policies is weak mostly because of low awareness of the problem and poor coordination between different national and local administrations dealing with solid waste issues;

Only few countries have policies related specifically to marine litter!

Derelict Fishing Gear Threat Lost fishing gear may continue to fish for years (estimated time for plastic fishing net

breakdown is cca. 600 years), a process referred to as »ghost« fishing;

Microplastics Threat The Adriatic Sea is a semi-enclosed basin with slow currents and long water retention

time, which makes it very vulnerable to persistent pollution related to marine litter, most of which is composed of plastic materials.

Microplastic (plastic particles in size < 5 mm) and Nanoplastic (< 0,3mm) can damage fish’s digestion tract and enhance bioaccumulation of pollutants (organic and inorganic) adsorbed to the particles, and consequently affect human health when edible species are contaminated.

Marine Litter Threat Marine litter is one of the major threats to marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean

sea with environmental, economic, safety and health as well as cultural impacts;

Marine litter related data are sporadic and limited in terms of time and space when it comes to individual countries;

Enforcement of relevant policies is weak mostly because of low awareness of the problem and poor coordination between different national and local administrations dealing with solid waste issues;

Only few countries have policies related specifically to marine litter!

What DeFishGear project tackles is:

Marine litter

Microplastics

Derelict fishing gear

© R. Dragaševid

© Thomais Vlachogianni

© Thomais Vlachogianni




www.defishgear.net

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Actions to tackle Marine Litter

Defining of a joint monitoring and assessment approach for marine litter, through participatory process;

Carrying out surveys on beaches, the water surface and the seafloor to enhance knowledge on amounts, composition and potential impacts of marine litter;

Establishing a network of experts on marine litter;

Building capacities to monitor marine litter in a harmonized way through reinforced exchange of experiences, techniques, and know-how;

Analyzing the implications of marine litter on peole, their property and livelihoods;

Setting up a database to make marine litter data accessible to all stakeholders;

Developing reccomandations and policy options based on the project findings and accumulated knowledge to meet regional and national objectives regarding marine litter (MSFD, RAP ML, EcAp, etc.)

Actions to tackle Marine Litter/Microplastics/Derelict Fishing Gear

Flagship objective of the project activities:

Fine-tuned niche of targeted actions to tackle marine litter/microplastics/derelict fishing gear

developed and navigated by the eminent experts involved in the DeFishGear project are all streaming

to one unique target, i.e. achievement of the Good Environmental Status of the Adriatic Sea and its

coastline.




www.defishgear.net

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Actions to tackle Microplastics

Development of the harmonized methodology for monitoring and assessment of microplastics;

Provision of the necessary equipment and skills for monitoring to all colaborating partners;

Carrying out research activities to improve the understanding of the quantities, types and sources of microplastics in the Adriatic Sea, as well as their presence in marine biota;

Undertaking studies to enhance knowledge on persistant organic polutants adsorbed on microplastics;

Actions to tackle Derelict Fishing gear

„Fishing for litter“ initiatives undertaken by fishermen while performing their daily fishing activities, not only leading to removal of marine litter, but also raising awareness on the issue within the fishing sector and wider public;

Targeted recovery of „Ghost nets“ from the sea with the direct involvment of fisherman and divers;

Establishing derelict fishing gear management schemes to collect and recycle lost or abandoned fishing nets and other gear;

Awareness raising activities for the fisherman;

© Ante Žuljevid

© IWRS Slovenia



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www.defishgear.net

Joint commitment in bridging the gap of reliable scientific marine litter data

The DeFishGear project directly addresses the need for accurate, coherent and comparable scientific

data on marine litter in the Adriatic region by taking up the joint action on regional level which goes

beyond the borders of this particular issue.

Thus, DeFishGear project encompasses the broader picture, taking into account emerging

microplastics pollution (threat to marine environment caused by plastic particles with a diameter

smaller than 5 mm), and impact of the derelict fishing gear (lost and abandoned fishing nets), which

continue to catch marine organisms, and impose severe threat to the marine species and habitats.

Joint commitment in combating all the aforesaid ubiquitous environmental issues, enhanced with

the sound scientific knowledge and harmonized monitoring, which goes hand in hand with the

coordinated and multi-sectorial targeted actions of policy makers is the key path to the sustainable

management and protection of both coastal and marine environment.

© IOF Croatia



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www.defishgear.net

List of Project Partners and Contact Points

Country Partner Partner's

Communications Focal Point

E-mail Website

Albania

Agricultural University of Tirana, Laboratory of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Jerina Kolitari [email protected] http://www.ubt.edu

.al/en

Regional Council of Lezha Arviola Begaj [email protected]

B&H Hydro-Engineering Institute of the Faculty of Civil Engineering

Nermina Tipura Dervišid

[email protected]

http://www.heis.com.ba/

Croatia

Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries

Pero Tutman [email protected] http://www.izor.hr/

web/guest/home

Public Institution RERA SD for coordination and development of Split Dalmatia County (RERA)

Gorana Baničevid [email protected] http://rera.hr/

Greece

Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development

Thomie Vlachogianni vlachogianni@mio-

ecsde.org http://www.mio-

ecsde.org/

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Institute of Oceanography

Nadia Papadopoulou [email protected] http://www.hcmr.gr

/en/

Italy

Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

Tomaso Fortibuoni tomaso.fortibuoni@ispra

mbiente.it http://www.ispram

biente.gov.it/en

Ca' Foscari University of Venice - Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage

Giulio Pojana [email protected] http://www.unive.it/nqcontent.cfm?a_i

d=10497

Mediterranean Consortium

Flavia Binda [email protected]

p http://www.mediter

raneo.coop/

Regional Agency for Environmental Protection in the Emilia-Romagna Region

Stefano Serra [email protected] http://www.arpa.e

mr.it/index.asp?idlivello=90

Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)

Giovanni Coppini [email protected] http://www.cmcc.it/

Montenegro University of Montenegro, Institute of marine biology

Branka Pestorid [email protected] http://www.ibmk.or

g/

Slovenia

University of Nova Gorica, The Laboratory for Environmental Research

Mladen Franko [email protected] http://www.ung.si/

en/

National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Laboratory for polymer chemistry and technology

Mojca Trkaj [email protected] http://www.ki.si/

Institute for water of the Republic of Slovenia

Uroš Robič [email protected] http://www.izvrs.si/

Compressed final version press kit

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