The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has conducted a clean-up cruise between Ålesund and Svalbard.
Around 100 tonnes of fishing gear has been removed from the seabed.
The annual clean-up cruise has been going on for 40 years, but this is the largest area that has been cleaned so far, the Directorate of Fisheries wrote in a press release.
“Marine litter is an environmental problem that is important to solve. We can’t have fishing gear left on the seabed… It pollutes and leads to additional mortality of fish and shellfish.
I would encourage both fishermen and recreational fishermen to become even better at reporting lost gear,” Minister of Fisheries Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said.
The equipment includes cages, nets, and ropes.
A total of 11,000 kilos of fish and 15,000 kilos of crabs get stuck in the fishing equipment.
In Norway, it’s illegal not to report lost fishing equipment.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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