The “Action to combat ghost fishing in Raet National Park” project launched in 2019 with funding from the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund and is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research and Green Bay AS. The project combines research, innovation and the clean-up of lost fishing equipment in Raet National Park. The clean-up takes place using boats and remote-controlled underwater drones (ROVs) that are used to conduct searches and retrieve fishpots from the seabed. A total of 1,254 tools have been collected so far, 82% of which are fishpots. It is estimated that there are just over 10,000 lost tools in the national park and nearly 2,500 ghost tools that continue to actively catch fish.
As well as cleaning and surveying the extent of litter in Raet, another important aspect of the project is to prevent future loss of fishing equipment. Through information campaigns and by trialling more environmentally friendly fishpots, there is hope that there will be fewer ghost fishpots in the future. The experiences gained and methods applied in the project will be transferred to other coastal regions in Norway.
You can find the 2020 report from the project here in norwegian.