Support Measures

Promote the "Fishing for Litter" initative and extend the idea to more ports in the sea region. Economic incentives could motivate offshore workers to collect and sort waste. National or municipal authorities responsible for waste collection could impose a fee on the producing sector that is responsible for the items collected. However, more background data is needed in order to do this efficiently. Only then each kind of producer could be made responsible for their litter: mussel production; oyster production, fish production etc. Member States with coasts and marine waters will have to ensure that aquaculture and fishing gear are collected separately for recycling with a national minimum annual collection rate. This can be achieved by offering a sorting system for different materials. The SUPD, however, does not provide a specific collection rate. This has to be delivered by national governments and specific commissions. Offer a sorting system for different materials: a distinction must be made between light plastics (polyolefins, polyethylene PE and polypropylene PP) and high-density polymers (polyamide, PET). PP and PE are already being recycled into granules. Since PA and PET do not float during processing, the processes for recycling are still in development Increase activities to retrieve ALDFG by mapping of known locations of underwater obstacles in combination with the use of ship sonars. Develop clean-up methods and assess the reasons why and where farmers lose gear. Successful cooperation with aquaculture companies when mapping lost gear host areas and planning retrieval activities can motivate the aquaculture farmers to further engage in the work and helps to earn their trust. A deeper involvement of aquaculture farmers during mapping would show interest in their expertise and can change the attitude towards more sensitive topics, such as preventive measures. Support return or deposit refund systems (DRS) with monitoring data. One indicator for checking deposit systems is the return rate. This indicator can be used to determine the effectiveness of a deposit system and to retain products in the cycle (reusable) or disposable products. If monitoring is an integral part of the EPR measures, the marginal cost is almost zero. This may support the idea of high recycling rates due to the EPR measures. Basis for well-founded assessment of a newly established DRS for aquaculture gear packaging and/or other single-use plastic items is a solid database on the amount of non-refundable single-use items. Items need to be well-defined related to simple return system or DRS and should be integrated into established marine monitoring programmes (in the swash zone of beaches, on the sea floor and in the stomachs of selected indicator types). Some compartments could even be added, such as monitoring of defined aquaculture litter in aquatic systems to get the whole picture.