08 Oct 2017

Over 2 tonnes of marine litter

have been removed in Malta for ‘Our Ocean’

On 5-6 October 2017, global leaders are invited in Malta to commit to new actions to ensure sustainable fisheries, to mitigate climate change impacts, to announce new marine protected areas and to fight marine pollution in the framework of the Our Ocean 2017 conference.


Healthy Seas and its partners were organizing various side events in Malta, linked to this important global event. The range of unique and exciting activities included (1) Sea clean-up action by volunteer divers at Marine Protected Areas around Malta, (2) “Our Ocean, Our Life” public engagement event and school programme, and (3) Ghost Net Exhibition at the Malta National Aquarium.

After the United States of America and Chile, the European Union is hosting the 4th edition of the ‘Our Ocean’ conference, at the initiative of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.

Healthy Seas and its partners were organizing various side events in Malta, at the heart of the Mediterranean, linked to this important global event.

Ghost Fishing volunteer divers together with Maltaqua Dive Centre departed between 1-3 October every day early in the morning to remove marine litter, more specifically lost fishing gear and ghost nets from ecologically important areas around Malta.

In spite of the rough weather, our divers were determined and collected over 500 kgs of lost fishing gear, thus made the seas around Malta a bit cleaner and safer place for marine animals to live. Lost fishing gear can cause a lot of problems for marine wildlife and marine ecosystems, but also for the maritime industry, navigational safety, beach quality, local communities and fishermen too.

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