Fishing Gear Lost at Sea Project and the Blue Line Reverse Logistics System. Luiz Miguel Casarini, Nathália Sousa Motta, José Edmilson de Araújo Mello Junior, Mônica Doll Costa, Júlia Alves Costa, Maria Tereza de Carvalho Lanza, Marisa Goulart, Letícia Borges Margonari

Abstract

The effect of fishing goes beyond the removal of biomass, it also generates lost, abandoned or discarded fishing gear, known as ghost gear, a recurrent problem in the integral conservation area and marine protected area. Since 2009, the "Lost Fishing Gear at Sea Project", a partnership among the Fisheries Institute and the Forestry Foundation, Sao Paulo State Government, carries out research on the development of technologies for detection and removal of ghost fishing gear. In this way, several surveys were carried out with publications that show the impacts caused by the ghost and/or illegal fishing gear in the marine protected area. The removal at sea of ​​approximately six tons of these items points to illegal fishing and lack of best practices in legalized fishing as the main sources of this impact. Removal of ghost gear and illegal gear solves part of the problem of marine litter. The characterization of the materials, the magnitude of the impact and the appropriate destination of these items is the other part of the problem that has been intensively researched and with sustainable solutions for success. Like plastics, fishing gear removed from the sea or seized is now considered to be unusable. Currently these materials are deposited in the premises of the conservation area or go to landfills. The creation of the Blue Line System represents the feasible of the natural flow for the reprocessing for this kind of waste, generating employment and income for the communities. It facilitates an innovative approach to the management of human activities to protect the marine environment and transform the ghost gear into sustainable polymer products with high environmental value added (upcycling).