Ministry initiates project to recycle ghost nets

In line with the measures taken to clean the seas of abandoned fishing lines and nets, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has initiated a new project to recycle these ghost nets for using them in manufacturing plastic parts of white goods.

The ministry has set a new target for ghost nets, which have become a nightmare for sea creatures. Accordingly, over 100,000 square meters of ghost nets will be removed from the waters by the end of 2023, and the removed ghost nets will be recycled to be used as plastic parts of white goods.

Awareness campaigns on the matter will be carried out throughout several provinces of the country, such as the capital Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Elazığ, Eskişehir, Konya, Konya, Isparta, Muğla, Samsun and Van.

The ministry's General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture had implemented a project for cleaning the seas from all abandoned fishing gear. Inland waters were also included in the project.

Previously, ghost nets were gathered from the waters in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ, Yalova, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Bursa, İzmir, Mersin, Hatay, Adana, Muğla, Sinop, Konya, Isparta, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Muş, Batman, Van and Bitlis provinces to ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem and the protection of aquatic biodiversity.

Some of the ghost nets were handed over to municipalities and farmers and used for different purposes. The metal parts of the nets that could not be used were recycled.

In the last nine years, the ministry scanned an area of 103 million square meters in 792 regions and removed approximately 800,000 square meters of nets from the waters.