Responsibility measures

Introduce annual maintenance contracts (AMC) between the aquaculture farmers, equipment manufacturers and other service providers to carry out regular checkups of the entire aquaculture infrastructure, to maintain, repair and collect the damaged gear and other equipment, and to recover it after a storm (even if located in another country bordering the same sea-basin).

Shared responsibility Shared responsibility

Photo: Burst Photo: Burst

Relevant type of aquaculture:

Fish Shellfish Seaweed

Relevant sea basin:

North

Relevant stage:

Removal and recycling

Related Barriers:

  • Currently, producers are not responsible for cleaning-up measures or recycling related to fishing/aquaculture gear. This gap will not be closed by the new EU Single-use-plastic Directive (SUPD) until 2021. However, national legislation is free to extend the legislative frame and could include clean-up responsibilities for producers.

  • Economic issues: costs and manpower to spend time at sea.

  • There is a resistance to change attitudes or habits and a lack of awareness of the necessity to do so.

  • There is not enough technical training for staff of aquaculture farms related to the life cycle and durability of aquaculture equipment. More knowledge would improve effective material replacement before e.g. plastic degradation creates microplactic contamination.

  • Even though the loss of gear in good shape is a significant financial loss, which farmers try to avoid, retrieving accidently lost gear (e.g. by passing vessels, storms), whilst required by the EU Fisheries Control Regulation, may be perceived as too time-consuming, complicated and very costly in practice.

Related Good Practice:

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