Waste collected from sea by fishermen up 50% on last year to 120,000 litres

Catalan fishermen removed more than 120,000 liters of rubbish from the sea in 2023 as part of the Pesca Neta project, twice as much as the previous year.

The increase in litter is due to the increase in boats participating in the Pesca Neta project, which involves 900 fishermen.

Among the ports in Tarragona, Ametlla de Mar is the one that has removed the most waste, 10,887 litres.

According to the fishermen, most of the waste is plastic, mainly sanitary napkins, packaging, but also cans and other items such as wood, tar and coal from old boats.

The Catalan fleet has been participating in this initiative for three years and has removed 240,000 liters of trash from the seas, half of which coming last year alone.

Before arriving at port, the fishermen of Ametlla de Mar use an application to register all the rubbish that has become entangled in the nets during their working day, together with the fish of the day. They classify it based on type and weight, in addition to complementing it with photographs that document the find.

"Normally we collect between 10-15kg, today was a good day because there was less," said Juanma Margalef, skipper of a boat from L'Ametlla de Mar.

Factors such as bad seas, storms, or the distance from the mainland impact on how much waste is found.

The port that has recorded the largest removal of waste in all of the Catalan coast is that of Palamós, in northern Catalonia, after collecting 28,052.25 liters of rubbish.

Lower data

All Catalan fishermen are involved in the Pesca Neta project, although the climate department acknowledges that not all of them use the app when collecting waste, meaning the real volume collected would be higher.

The project aims to assess humans' impact in pollution and improve the marine environment, in addition to compensating the fishermen for their work in this initiative. €1 million per year is allocated to this program which gets distributed among federations of fishermen that participate.

Raising awareness is another goal of the Pesca Neta project. "The problem is on land, not in the sea," remarked Margalef.

The initiative is added to by activities for young people and students with didactic activities that reinforce the messages to take care of the environment, including the marine.