A school of fish in a cleaner sea

by Annalisa Audino

Among the many interesting and original initiatives dedicated to the European Week for Waste Reduction is a distinguished, dedication to the marine environment, called Più-M@re, created by the City of Gallipoli in collaboration with the Association “Insieme Europa” (Together Europe) and the Presidency of the V Productive Activities Commission of the Province of Lecce.

The F.A.O. and the U.N.E.P. have recently published a report stating that fishing gear that is lost or abandoned is a danger to the ecosystem (in this sense we speak about ghost fishing because many marine animals become trapped and die). The Più-M@re action, which is to be held between November the 25th and 28th at Gallipoli is expressed through various activities aimed at cleaning the marine environment and safeguarding its people. We will produce a market for the recovery and reuse of fishing gear (nets, ropes, floats), with on-site repair instructions, their sale back into to the industry (to the poorer members) and the subsequent re-use in the following up feature, delaying over time the purchase of new assets or sold to cooperative and companies operating in the area of art and design. In the picturesque setting, close to a bay with moored boats and the old town behind it, information points will be set up to provide information on appropriate environmental practices for the effective disposal of unusable fishing gear. At the same time an senior ex-fisherman will give a workshop-course on repairing damaged fishing equipment. Participants will first and foremost be students of the Gallipoli Nautical Institute.
Repairing, an almost forgotten practice, became the focal point of this intergenerational communication that wants to commit itself to showing how the lifespan of objects can be stretched.

All video and photographic material collected during these days will be added to a website dedicated to the permanent on-line dissemination of knowledge on the proper management of discarded fishing gear. The original initiative is certainly the goal of safeguarding the marine ecosystem through the spreading of good practices for recovery and reuse of fishing gear worn out between fishing operators, as shown by Antonio Stea, from the agronomist association: “We thought of using the channel of the European Week for Waste Reduction to focus on a subject very dear to us. We hope, in fact, as Salento, we can trigger the virtuous processes of protection of the marine ecosystem that may be exported to other contexts. We also hope that our citizens realize the importance and the ethical value of recovery".