With 37,000 metres of nets retrieved from fishing grounds, in addition to thousands of metres of lines, ropes and warps, this year’s seabed clean-up operation by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has this year returned record results

The figure of 1,339 retrieved gill nets beats the clean-up initiative’s previous record of 1,180 nets that were removed during the 1992 effort, which has up to now been the largest recovery of waste gear during the 40 years the clean-up has been conducted every summer.

“Unlike when we find trawl warps that have been dumped, it’s important to clarify that gill nets are lost during fishing, for various reasons. This year in particular there has been a loss of nets during the Greenland halibut fishery,” said Gjermund Langedal at the Fisheries Directorate’s environment department, who oversees the clean-up operation.

He commented that the outcome indicates that fishermen are making full use of the reporting scheme, and that there is a real need for this clean-up operation.