The Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Department of Environmental Protection and Control has launched the ‘Don’t Let the Seas Weep’ project to provide a solution to one of the most important problems threatening the marine ecosystem. The project aims to protect both the sea and marine life by preventing used fishing nets from being thrown into the sea.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of nets are abandoned in the seas worldwide. These nets, known as ‘ghost nets’, cause ‘passive fishing’ by entangling and killing marine life. Mersin Metropolitan Municipality has taken action to reduce this danger in the Mediterranean. Within the scope of the project, ‘waste net collection containers’, where fishermen can dispose of their old nets, have been placed in the Çamlıbel and Karaduvar regions. Fishermen will leave their worn-out nets in these containers.
The collected nets will be sent for recycling and transformed into fishing materials.
The nets collected by the teams of the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Maritime Services and Inspection Branch Directorate will be sent to licensed recycling facilities and transformed into materials that fishermen can use on their boats. Moreover, fishermen who bring their old nets will be given new materials free of charge. With this project, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality aims to protect the life cycle in the seas while also increasing environmental awareness among fishermen.
“We started this project to prevent the damage caused by nets to the sea and marine life.”
Baran Kırboğa, an aquaculture engineer working at the Maritime Services and Inspection Branch Directorate of the Department of Environmental Protection and Control, provided information about the ‘Don’t Let the Seas Weep’ project. Stating that ‘waste net collection containers’ have been placed in areas where fishing activities are intensive as part of the project initiated to prevent used nets from being thrown into the sea, Kırboğa said, “Our work continues in fishing shelters where fishing activities take place, especially in Karaduvar and Çamlıbel. One of the biggest problems we see here is the pollution caused by worn-out fishing nets. We acted by foreseeing the damage caused by nets left in the sea to marine life. Our project has actively started to prevent ghost nets and other fishing nets from being released into the sea.”
Calling on fishermen to throw their old nets into the waste net collection containers, Kırboğa said, “We expect our fisherman friends to support our project and bring their old nets and throw them into the net collection containers. We will also provide equipment and product support for their boats to our fisherman friends who bring their old nets.”
“We aim to be the first municipality working in this field in Turkey.”
Noting that according to research, the polyethylene ratio in nets is approximately 75 percent, which harms both the sea and marine life, Kırboğa added that these nets can be recycled, saying, “Since the substance we call polyethylene is a petroleum-derived substance, it can be converted into diesel fuel. In addition to these fishing nets, old vehicle tires and plastic products can also be converted into diesel fuel. We aim to grind the collected nets into granules using crushers, recycle them, and transform them into products that our fishermen can use on their boats. Thus, we will reintroduce a waste material back into the economy.
“We aim to be the first municipality working in this field in Türkiye,” he said.
“The main purpose of the project is to realize the dream of a clean Mediterranean.”
Noting that they are carrying out the project in cooperation with the universities in Mersin and in line with scientific research, Kırboğa stated, “By conducting scientific research with the universities in our province, we aim to reassess these wastes discarded into the marine environment and the fishing nets, and transform them primarily into products that will meet the needs of our fishermen. We are open to working together with all municipalities bordering the Mediterranean. Because the most fundamental point of this project is to realize the dream of a clean Mersin and a clean Mediterranean. Therefore, we also expect support from our citizens to protect our seas. As Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, we say ‘do not pollute, provide support, give breath to the seas’,” he said.
