Few people know that this is one of the most threatened marine ecosystems on earth. Biodiversity is dwindling, overfishing and pollution are taking their toll. Eutrophication, the accumulation of nutrients in waters that are actually low in nutrients, causes murky water, toxic algal blooms, oxygen deficiency and loss of biodiversity. 

There are a variety of causes. However, fishing plays a specific role with the use of gillnets in particular. Especially in the Baltic Sea, gillnet fishing is one of the most common methods for catching cod, herring and flatfish. The fine nets can hardly be seen underwater by seabirds, juvenile fish and marine mammals such as harbour porpoises, which get entangled and eventually drown. Dead harbour porpoises bearing evidence of injuries caused by fishing are regularly found washed up on the local beaches. As part of the Baltic Sea Campaign, we patrol the waters with our vessel, the M/V Emanuel Bronner, to find illegally set nets and hand them over to the authorities. In addition to this, we document the impacts of gillnet fishing and violations of existing conservation laws, such as the discard ban.

With the Baltic Sea Campaign we are also helping to reduce marine pollution. Millions of old fishing nets drift through the oceans worldwide; up to 10,000 pieces of net are lost every year in the Baltic Sea alone. It takes centuries for the material to finally breakdown into microplastics. Until then, the nets are deadly for countless marine animals. A major goal of the Baltic Sea Campaign is therefore the recovery of ghost nets. Thanks to an underwater robot (ROV) and specially trained divers, we will first locate the nets and prepare them for retrieval. The recovered nets will then be properly disposed of or, if possible, cleaned and recycled in an environmentally friendly manner. In addition to the areas of operation along the Baltic Sea coast, our onshore teams will carry out beach cleanups throughout Germany cleaning up waterside areas.

“The Baltic Sea is right on our doorstep, and therefore we have a special responsibility to protect this fragile ecosystem. Climate change, environmental toxins, plastic, noise and fishing threaten flora and fauna and systematically destroy essential habitats that are still seriously underestimated in their importance. We don't need a patchwork of protected areas that can still be fished. We need extensive no-take zones, protected areas that are connected via the migration routes of their inhabitants. Protected areas that really deserve their name. We need a full and thorough control of fishing activities and must fight activities such as the illegal disposal of bycatch at sea. This is the only way we can save what can still be saved.” - Florian Stadler, Campaign Leader, Baltic Sea Campaign 2021.

Watch the campaign launch video below: