photo by Edinburgh Greens (EdinburghGreens on Flickr CC)
There used to be jokes about going “condom fishing” in dirty city canals, but now an ambitious EU plan aims to encourage professional fishermen to haul recyclable plastics from Europe’s suffering seas as part of their catch. This could mean a significant shift in the normally environmentally harmful behavior of commercial fishing.
EU fisheries chief Maria Damanki unveiled bold plans to eliminate the practice of fishing boats throwing back unprofitable, yet edible, catch. Smaller, younger fish or less valuable species are routinely thrown back in the ocean, usually dead. In some areas 2/3 of the catch is simply tossed overboard.
Fishermen who clear plastic will be subsidised initially by EU member states, but in future the scheme could turn into a self-sustaining profitable enterprise, as fleets cash in on the increasing value of recycled plastics. Cleaning up the rubbish will also improve the prospects for fish, seabirds and other marine species, which frequently choke or suffer internal damage from ingesting small pieces of non-biodegradable packaging.
–Guardian
Fishermen are strongly against this wasteful practice being banned, because they fear it will affect their profits. An innovative, ambitious idea, which may soften their opposition to sweeping new EU fishing regulations, is the proposal of paying fishermen to use special nets to catch plastic waste, thereby cleaning up the environment they depend on while earning money through recycling.
Read more in the Guardian.