Issue of Concern being addressed: marine conservation/waste management.

Project Overview:

This campaign is designed to remove lost or abandoned fishing gear that could be harmful to Menorcan marine flora and fauna, in order to avoid ‘ghost fishing’.

Project collaborations:

It sits within the PROJECT MENORCA a marine protection programme designed by the Menorca Preservation Fund, Blue Marine Foundation and Sunseeker International.

General project objective

The campaign promoted by MEPF and LEADER with the name “In Search of the Ghost Network” is outlined as follows:

A call to action will be launched to all stakeholders within the fishing and diving communities to report any abandoned nets or longlines that they see.

If you are a scuba diver, a fisherman or simply a sea lover and you find a lost long line or fishing net tangled on the seabed, please contact us: galp_menorca@cime.es

Communications are sent out via social networks and by working directly with Menorca’s Local Action Group of Fisheries, the Local Fisherman’s Guilds, recreational fishing companies and diving centers.

Once the nets are located, the campaign aims to make a presentation showing the impact of these nets and the process of their removals to raise awareness of the fragility of the seabed among those who love and rely on the marine environment.

Local collaborations:

• Fishing guild of Fornells.
• Fishing guild of Ciutadella.
• Fishing guild of Mahón.
• Various Diving centers.
• Association underwater fishing of Menorca (AMESUB)
• Other entities.

Chronology:

5 months. Starting June 2018.

The Local Action group of fisheries of Menorca collaborates with Leader Isla de Menorca Association and MEPF to carry out a removal campaign of abandoned/lost fishing nets at the sea (long lines or fishing nets) as to avoid “ghost fishing”.

If you are a scuba diver, a fisherman or simply a sea lover and you find a lost long line or fishing net tangled on the seabed, please contact us: galp_menorca@cime.es