“Seas Without Plastic” Project: 2 tons of ghostnets removed from the seabed near Patroklos Island in the Saronic Gulf

Nearly 2 tons of abandoned aquaculture nets were retrieved from the seabed of the marine area near Patroklos island in the Saronic Gulf. It took 4 separate missions of seabed cleanups to remove this huge quantity from a marine area heavily affected by pollution. MEDASSET coordinated the activities and the technical divers of AquaTec managed to successfully remove the abandoned nets from the seabed. The activities took place thanks to the support from Rio Mare Greece .

“Ghostnets”, as we call the abandoned or lost in the sea nets, are a major source of plastic marine pollution. They are made of plastic, thus they can keep functioning under the sea for hundreds of years and trap vulnerable species like sea turtles and other marine species. Lack of awareness regarding the detrimental effects of plastic pollution and control on whether aquafarms remove their plastic waste from the sea, has led to this menace.

Combating marine plastic pollution is one of MEDASSET’s main pillars of action. Ghostnets and other types of plastic marine litter (e.g. vehicle tyres) heavily affect the marine area near Patroklos Island. In the framework of the project “Seas without Plastic”, we managed to remove a huge quantity of abandoned nets and contribute to the restoration of the area.