Following a series of trials carried out in Sicily, a subsequent round of sea trials of the NETTAG+ project have been conducted in the Adriatic around the Croatian island of Vis.
Organised by WWF-Adria, with the collaboration of the Komiža fishing community and the B-24 Diving Centre, the trials focused on testing the innovative solutions designed to locate and recover fishing gear in case of loss.
Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, NETTAG+ is a €2.7 million, three-year project aiming to prevent, avoid and mitigate environmentally harmful impacts of fishing gears and their associated marine litter, actively contributing to the European Commission “Restore our ocean and waters by 2030” Mission.
The trials conducted in the Adriatic focused on two core NETTAG+ technologies – the MyGearTag acoustic gear location system developed by Newcastle University and Succorfish, which helps fishers detect and locate their gear in case of accidental loss, and the IRIS a robotic subsea system developed by INESC TEC to detect and assist in recovering gear marked with the acoustic tags.
Both technologies were deployed and tested in real conditions by the technical teams from Newcastle University, Succorfish and INESC TEC with the active participation of the region’s fishing community. Fishers scanned the acoustic tags to register their unique ID, attached them to their fishing gear and used the MyGearTag app to successfully locate the equipment. In parallel, CIIMAR collected water samples and acoustic and environmental data to ensure that NETTAG+ technologies operate safely and have no adverse environmental impact.
The project brings together a number of partners across Europe, including the University of Newcastle and tech company Succorfish.
Collaborative strength
According to the project, over the past two years alone, more than five tonnes of discarded and lost fishing gear have been removed from the Adriatic Sea – although this represents only a fraction of what remains on the seafloor.
“Cooperation with fishers is crucial in finding effective and sustainable solutions. Thanks to their experience and knowledge of the sea, we can test technologies that make a real difference in practice,” said Andrea Ivanković, from WWF-Adria.
“Test results on Vis showed that innovation, when applied along with field knowledge, can significantly reduce the risk of equipment loss and harm to marine life.”
Ivanković said the Vis trials reaffirmed the value of close collaboration with professional fishers – a fundamental aspect of the NETTAG+ approach to developing innovative, practical and environmentally responsible solutions for tackling marine litter derived from fisheries.
