Responsibility Measures

Once government and involved stakeholders have access to real data regarding the marine litter issue, they will probably more easily engage in addressing the problem. Gear should be tagged by the manufacturer and by the farmer. Floats/buoys are usually found tangled with the nets on the seafloor. Therefore, it would be advisable to mark nets and floats/buoys together. Set up collaborations between farmers, port authorities and gear producers to locate and establish collection points for disposal of aquaculture gear in the port reception facilities. Farmers could be responsible for bringing the gear to the port facilities (encouraged by implementing a deposit-to-be-returned system, for example) and, on the other hand, gear producers could economically compensate the port authorities for using their installations. Establish a clear management and description of roles and responsibilities in each part of the process (collection, treatment, transport and recycling) before the creation of the EPR system. Deposit schemes, option 1: grant a discount on following purchases: the farmer brings back the used items to the seller/manufacturer and gets a discount on the price of the following purchase depending on the weight/volume/quantity returned. Deposit schemes, option 2: return a deposit: to purchase an order, the farmer pays not only for the bought items but he also leaves a deposit, which will be returned by the seller/manufacturer once the farmer returns the used items. Raise the awareness related to the non-organic marine litter from the aquaculture sector as this will increase the willingness of farmers and/or consumers to pay more to cover the extra cost related to the use of recycled nets (if no other option could avoid the price increase), and thus the reduced impact on the marine environment. An increased awareness of all aquaculture stakeholders, especially the farmers, should imply a larger involvement of the sector in voluntary initiatives focused on reducing the impact of their economical activities (e.g. voluntary initiatives related to Fishing for litter).