Recovering fishing nets lying on the bottom of our sea to restore freedom to marine ecosystems and their inhabitants.
An invisible danger threatening marine biodiversity
Ghost nets include nets, lines, hooks and other fishing gear abandoned or lost at sea, which lie on the seabed and can trap, injure and kill thousands of fish, turtles, cetaceans and corals.
THE PROBLEM
Ghost nets
Fishing gear accounts for most of the marine litter recorded in the Mediterranean, coming to make up about 90% of the sea’s pollution. Each year, enough nets are lost or discarded to cover the whole of Scotland!
THE CONSEQUENCES
An underwater trap
Ghost nets only eradicate the complex system of relationships that develops in our sea, trivializing the seabed and turning a gorgonian forest or Posidonia meadow into a desert.
THE SOLUTIONS
Anyone can contribute
Raising public awareness, educating fishermen, and conducting ghost net recovery operations are all crucial steps in changing the course and removing this invisible yet devastating threat from our seas.
the main impacts of ghost nets are:
Marine pollution
The nets are composed mostly of plastic, so they release microscopic pollutant particles into the water.
Animal trap
Fish, birds and cetaceans can get caught in nets scattered in the water and, in some cases, die.
Banalization of the seabed
Under the pull of the currents, the nets envelop and abrade the organisms, destroying the three-dimensionality of the seabed.
Our long-standing partnership with BioNike continues in 2026 with the SEA FOR TOMORROW project: we have recovered 300 kg of abandoned nets and fishing lines from the seabed of the Secche di Santo Stefano al Mare.
With the support of SC Johnson, we have combined science, action, and storytelling to show what it means to care for the sea, together.
Thanks to a collaboration with Caleffi Hydronic Solutions, we recovered 300 kg of abandoned fishing nets and fishing lines from the seabed at Capo Mortola in Liguria.
Thanks to the support of AXA Cuori in Azione and in collaboration with Reef Alert Network, Portofino AMP and Abyss Cleanup, we recovered 1 km of fishing lines and more than 30 abandoned hooks in the deep sea of the Portofino Marine Protected Area in Liguria.
Together with [ comfort zone ] we recovered more than 300 kg of nets abandoned or lost in the seabed of the Marine Protection Area of Capo Mortola, In Liguria.
Are you a business?
The project is open to collaborations: you can help us carry out further ghost net recovery operations!
