As part of the fight against mucilage in the Sea of Marmara, the “Project for Cleaning the Gulf of İzmit from Ghost Nets” was signed at the meeting held in the office of Kocaeli Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Director Yüksel Çil with the participation of ARAS Salvage Debris Removal Emergency Response and Marine Technologies Inc.
The protocol of the project, which will make a great contribution to the future of the gulf by preparing a cleaner environment in the Gulf of İzmit and a more comfortable living environment with the implementation of the İKHAT-2022 project, was signed between Aras Marine and Kocaeli Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry on January 13, 2022.
Within the scope of the fight against mucilage in the Sea of Marmara, as the 18th item of the “The Sea of Marmara Action Plan”, it was decided to clean up the ghost nets in the Sea of Marmara. In line with this purpose, the “Project for Cleaning the Gulf of İzmit from Ghost Nets (İKHAT)-2022” was prepared in Kocaeli in connection with the “Project for Cleaning the Seas from Abandoned Fishing Gear” of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry by the Kocaeli Governorship Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry.
It is aimed to remove ghost nets from the marine environment by removing ghost nets at 6 pre-determined locations in the Gulf of Izmit and at other locations to be determined by screening studies with the prepared project also it is planned to carry out dredging work in a marine area of 1,000,000 m2.
With the “Project for Cleaning the Gulf of İzmit from Ghost Nets (İKHAT)-2022”
* Removing ghost nets from the sea in the Gulf of Izmit,
* Investigating the reasons for their existence, examining the effects on their environment and sea creatures,
* Determining the measures that can be taken to prevent the nets from being left in the water
* It is aimed to bring the nets extracted from the marine environment to our country’s economy by using them in recycling within the scope of the “Zero Waste Project”