NETTAG+ aims to provide a portfolio of three suitable innovative smart and sustainable solutions to address the negative impacts of  fishing gears on marine life and habitats, in line with the second issue of the call “Environmental impacts of fishing gears”.

NETTAG+  is based on synergistic activities between the fisheries industry, scientists and NGOs to develop three solutions to PREVENT,  AVOID and MITIGATE the harmful impacts of fishing gears:

• PREVENT marine litter derived from fisheries activities,
• AVOID loss of fishing gears,
• MITIGATE harmful impact by removing existing abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG).  

These three solutions will jointly contribute to reduce ALDFG and marine pollution, namely by:

• reducing the introduction of hazardous chemicals and microplastics originated from ALDFG,
• reducing ghost fishing, bycatch and entanglements of sensitive or endangered species on ALDFG
• and improving mapping, tracking  and recovery technologies to retrieve ALDFG. 

NETTAG+ aims to upgrade and upscale the integrative preventive approach started in  the previous NetTag project, and replicate it in Mediterranean regions. The three solutions will be developed to maturity by the end of the project and will be tested, validated and demonstrated in real conditions in Atlantic and Mediterranean countries, namely Portugal (PT), United Kingdom (UK), Spain (SP), Italy (IT), Croatia (HR) and Malta (MT).

Coordinator:

CENTRO INTERDISCIPLINAR DE INVESTIGACAO MARINHA PT - coordinator 

Partners:

INESC TEC - INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COPT

UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA 

UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

FONDAZIONE WWF MEDITERRANEAN

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEV

ERINN INNOVATION LIMITED

Succorfish Ltd

Cadilhe & Santos, Lda.

COOPERATIVA DE ARMADORES DE PESCA DEL PUERTO DEES

Associação Pró- Maior Segurança dos Homens do Mar 

Co.Ge.Pa. di Portorosa 

MINISTRY FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, AND ANIMAL RIGHT

Affiliated:

WWF ITALIA

WWF ADRIA
 

NETTAG+ ambition is to change the paradigm of the fisheries industry, aspiring to transform the societal perspectives about the role of fishers as Guardians and Cleaners of the Ocean. NETTAG+ will empower the sector to take active actions to address marine pollution, promoting their role as key-actors to tackle marine pollution and will provide the fisheries industry with three smart and environmentally-friendly solutions to reduce ALDFG and prevent the environmental impacts of fishing gears.