The European Bottom Fishing Alliance (EBFA) has welcomed the European Union's establishment of new measurable thresholds for seafloor litter.
The initiative aims to address marine pollution, with the European Commission mandating that member states adopt appropriate measures within their marine strategies to meet these targets.
Under the new regulations, areas monitored through trawl surveys are permitted no increase in litter levels. For areas monitored visually, the commission has stipulated that litter must not exceed one item per 1,000 square metres.
These thresholds are designed to be integrated into member states' marine strategies as required by the marine strategy framework directive (MSFD).
The EBFA highlighted that while factors such as poor land-based waste management contribute significantly to marine litter, fishers often encounter the issue firsthand. The organisation noted that bottom trawling activities provide essential data on underwater pollution.
Margot Angibaud, EBFA Secretariat, stated, "Fishers depend on healthy oceans to do their work. They are an active part of the solution, removing marine litter every time their gear crosses paths with it."
She added that projects such as "fishing for litter" have already collected more than 13 million kilograms of waste.
The organisation is calling for a simplification of procedures to reduce the administrative burden on fishers involved in litter removal. The EBFA argued that fishers should be incentivised and compensated rather than bearing the cost of waste management.
Furthermore, the organisation urged European institutions to address the issue at an international level, particularly through ocean diplomacy in ongoing negotiations for a plastics treaty.
The organisation cited data suggesting that a vast majority of the global plastic load entering the seas originates from 10 rivers located in Asia and Africa.
