The AdriCleanFish project, financed by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MIPAAF) aims at investigating the problem of marine litter in the Adriatic Sea and its impact on the fishing production chain by intervening through awareness-raising actions and the involvement of fishermen. The fishing sector can significantly contribute to the mitigation of the problem both in terms of prevention, through the proper disposal of obsolete fishing gear, and in terms of reduction of the same, thanks to their participation in Fishing for Litter initiatives, thus allowing the acquisition of useful data over time for the monitoring of the problem.
WHAT DOES THE PROJECT CONSIST IN?
The AdriCleanFish project consists of 4 types of activity, implemented in the marinas of Chioggia and Civitanova Marche:
- Evaluating and raising awareness among fishermen on the problem of marine litter and its effects on the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem and on the fishing industry, through meetings, surveys and also their participation in the production of a short documentary about AdriCleanFish activities, that will be then used as a tool to further raise awareness among citizens and institutions
- Collection of litter on the seafloor by 12 fishing boats of the marinas during their usual fishing activities, and analysis of the collected marine litter by the scientific team to determine its composition and origin to monitor it
- Monitoring of micro and macro litter from the sea surface through sampling and characterization according to its type, size, weight and composition
- Data collection on the impact of microplastics on fish, thanks to samples taken on fish intended for human consumption (such as anchovy, sardine or common sole) during the collection of litter by the 12 fishing boats, by assessing the presence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract
