Discarded fishing nets threaten marine life by leaching microplastics and trapping sea creatures. An innovative project in Kenya is testing eco-friendly gear.
00:00A shark that couldn't free itself A turtle tangled up in a plastic line
00:08Birds dead in nets Fishing equipment all too often becomes
00:13a death trap for other animals. And lost nets also disintegrate into microplastic.
00:18Some 30 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the world's oceans each year. Ghost
00:23nets make up a big part. Now there are plans to help stop that with
00:28biodegradable lines. They are currently undergoing rigorous testing in Kenya by
00:33fishers going about their daily business in a badly damaged coral reef and by
00:40seaweed farmers of Kibunyu in Kenya's south coast. Up until recently they used lines
00:48made of plastic but when these fail they turn into dangerous marine litter.
00:55When we started seaweed farming we used plastic roofs. But when they tear they float about
01:05in the water and are consumed by fish and turtles. Their sharp ends can cause injuries. And the
01:16plastic waste also ends up in the mangroves.
01:25Today is harvest day. The seaweed is pulled out together with the echo ropes it has been
01:30growing on for six to eight weeks. It is later dried and processed into food, cosmetics or fertilizer.
01:37The women have been using the biodegradable lines for a year. At low tide they seed new beds. Small beds of seaweed are tied to the echo
01:44the eco-friendly material. The Kenyan fisheries service launched the pilot project in early 2024. The new lines are reaping positive results compared to conventional ones.
01:59We have noticed certain advantages. For example, after 45 days of farming the seaweed, there were no lost seedlings on the new ropes.
02:14We are seeing a continuous push towards seaweed that has grown using eco-friendly methods. So very soon we will be seeing the market paying more for seaweed that has grown using technologies that are less polluting to the environment compared to those that are polluting the environment.
02:42The biodegradable rope is made in South Africa's Cape Town. It was developed by Catch Green, a company that works with the innovative polymer biodolomer, a Swedish invention made from limestone and sugar cane. It has the same properties as plastic, but it doesn't disintegrate into microplastics and decomposes within a few years. The project is funded by international environmental programs and the UN.
03:09The aim? The aim? To create a genuine alternative to plastic, not just for seaweed farming, but also for industrial fishing.
03:16Back on Kenya's south coast, fishers like Hassan Imchoma have been testing nets in which at least some components, such as the float and lead lines, were replaced with biodegradable material. So if they are lost, they will at least partially decompose. However, the material hasn't stood up to everyday use.
03:40They don't work. And that's a real problem for small-scale fishermen like me. It's a loss. You buy an expensive net, and a month later, you're already paying to fix it, while your catch barely covers the cost.
03:56So there's a cost of repair that is frequent when using fishing net compared to seaweed ropes. So I think at some point we have not entered the second phase where we are providing fishermen with the materials for repair of those nets. And I think that is what has caused a delay in adoption. But that's the next phase that we'll get into.
04:22While biodegradable nets aren't currently meeting fishers' expectations, they are being successfully used off the nearby island of Wassini.
04:32These divers are volunteers trained to rescue the degraded coral reef. Bits of living coral are being attached to biodoloma ropes to help revive it in a way that's cheaper, quicker, and greener than the conventional method using concrete.
04:50It has proven successful and hasn't damaged the delicate marine ecosystem. We are hopeful that in three to five years the ropes will have dissolved without causing any harm, while in the meantime the corals will have been able to establish themselves and began to thrive in their natural habitat.
05:08A promising vision. Marine animals returning to a flourishing ecosystem. The new material has some issues. But here, underwater, it's showing its potential to rebuild a reef while itself slowly disintegrating into water, a small amount of CO2, and lime-containing biomass.
05:32It is a user- Duchampus.
05:34A safe space getting求 to a planet-frontal reef for the other ones that have been used by the unafog tentar and a huge amount of CO2, and even more, a large amount of CO2 or more.
05:38There is a utility of the catch-of-the-calculus to a local reef.
05:40A energy that is allowed to rent and land we are still in the ocean.
05:42You should be able to...
05:44We will need a key to move on...
05:46The air pool is stored on the air for the first time before joining the water.
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