Massive ghost net removed from sea off İstanbul
A 15,000-square-meter ghost net detected off İstanbul’s Heybeliada island has been removed from the sea.
Many marine creatures, including a juvenile fan mussel, were found dead after becoming trapped in the ghost net, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Ghost nets are either nets discarded in the sea or intentionally left to continue passive fishing. Because they remain in the water for long periods, they turn into a deadly trap for marine life and pose a hazardous threat to the ecosystem.
The net was detected following a report made to Mobil Atlas, an application implemented by the Marine Life Protection Association and the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, Volkan Narcı, head of the association, told AA. The application was launched last year to contribute to creating Turkey’s marine biodiversity map by uploading species, depth, and location information about marine creatures to the system.
Teams arriving in the area following the report conducted an exploration using underwater cameras, which showed that the nets were stuck in rocky areas and crevices, Narcı said.
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During seven dives carried out at six different locations over four days, teams removed nearly 15,000 square meters of ghost net, 200 square meters of monofilament net, 225 kilograms of lead weights, 30 meters of rope, and 50 meters of trawl door rope.
The ghost nets removed from the sea could completely cover the nearly 390-meter-high Çamlıca Radio Tower.
Rescued creatures
Squid eggs, starfish, sea cucumbers, crabs, and various fish species were found inside some of the nets. The teams determined that many creatures died because they were trapped in the nets for a long time.
During the checks performed on the boat, creatures showing signs of life were separated from the nets one by one and released back into the sea. Among the rescued creatures were a female hermit crab its baby clinging tightly to its leg.
The removed ghost nets will be transformed into raw materials. Figures of coral, fan mussels, starfish, orcas, and stingrays, along with the coordinates where the nets were removed, will be engraved on the temples of sunglasses to be produced from these materials.
A global problem
Narcı said ghost nets are a global problem and that nearly 2 percent of fishing gear is lost in the sea.
Stating that they have cleared nearly 500,000 square meters of ghost nets from the seabed in their work over approximately 10 years, Narcı noted that millions of marine creatures die in ghost nets abandoned in the seas, and the deaths continue as long as that net is not removed.
"Millions of marine creatures live here. They cannot reproduce because they cannot get inside, or if they stay inside, they die because they cannot feed," Narcı said.
"Millions of marine creatures, including birds that come to prey on the dead ones, die and these deaths may continue for perhaps 100 years when we do not remove it. Since [nets] have a plastic raw material, they stay there for 100 to 150 years. Imagine how much, millions of marine creatures it destroys." (TY/VK)