In the fishing port of Brižine, fishermen, representatives of relevant institutions, and students from the Maritime and Natural sciences school in Split gathered on November 14. Sunce organized a public event in Kaštel Sućurac as part of the FishNoWaste project.
Fishing port of Brižine became a hub for discussions on sustainable fishing, marine litter and proper waste management in fishing ports across the Adriatic. Brižine is a home to the most modern fishing cooperative in the Adriatic, Friška riba, that hosted the event.
The sea as a waste repository: a problem we can no longer ignore
Through lectures, short videos, a workshop and a tour of the port, the gathered fishermen, experts, and students gained a clear understanding of how important it is to build a system that protects the sea from waste.
– Fishing ports are the first point of contact between marine litter and the system that can properly manage it, – said the project manager at Sunce, Tea Kuzmičić Rosandić.
Most marine litter enters the sea from land-based activities. For years, it accumulates on the seafloor, floats in the water column and drifts on the sea surface. Fishermen are precisely the first to notice and collect this waste through their activities.
Data collected through years of collaboration between the Adria fishing cooperative from Tribunj and the Institute of oceanography and fisheries show that in 2022 alone, six Tribunj fishing boats passively removed 4.8 tonnes of marine litter.
Dubravka Bojanić Varezić from the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries presented the results of marine litter monitoring in the fishing port of Tribunj.
– According to the results, it is evident that the largest percentage of marine litter is made up of plastic, – emphasized Bojanić Varezić.
Matea Lovrić, manager of the Adria Fishing Cooperative, highlighted that starting in 2024, they will also collect discarded fishing gear for further processing and recycling.
When a port becomes a classroom
Fishermen know the sea better than anyone, they understand it in all its faces and know all its troubles.
– Fishing cannot be recommended to just anyone. It’s a calling, you either love it or you don’t, – the fishermen humorously told us in conversation.
To give students an authentic insight into fishing, we guided them through the fishing port of Brižine.
– This year, our cooperative has a total of twelve trawlers, eight purse seiners, two longliners, and one shellfish collector, – explained Linda Zanki Duvnjak, manager of the Friška riba fishing cooperative.
Students also had the opportunity to see containers for separate waste collection, and by the end, they learned a new skill – mending fishing nets!
Luka Bonačić, a master at mending nets, showed the students different types of nets and taught them net-mending techniques. In this way, the students learned that even in fishing, the lifespan of materials can be extended, helping to reduce waste generation.
And the learning did not stop there. The central installation of the event was an exhibition that everyone could walk around to discover even more interesting facts about marine litter.
The entire atmosphere was enhanced by Sara Nikšić, a biologist and musician, who combined whale vocalizations with electronic music.
What you can do to protect the Adriatic?
When people who love, understand and want to protect the sea come together in one place, it is a good sign that we are moving in the right direction. You may not be steering a trawler or mending nets, but every decision we make makes a difference. A cleaner Adriatic is possible only if we all take part in this effort together. So, become a member and volunteer with Sunce. We organize clean-up actions as well as other engaging activities where you can participate and contribute to environmental protection.
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