Forthcoming new editorial product on GHOST Project

The GHOST team celebrates il World Ocean Day by announcing the forthcoming publication of the book  "Minacce nascoste sotto il mare: le reti fantasma ", edited by Stefania Tonin and published by Franco Angeli Editore as part of the series Uomo, ambiente, sviluppo.

The volume, jointly written by various researchers involved in the LIFE-GHOST project, intends to bring the Italian readers closer to the ghost nets issue, framing it within the broader context of marine litter, and provides an overview of the innovative strategies identified by the research team for the protection of the rocky habitats located along the North Adriatic coastal area, and in general for the protection of the marine ecosystems.

How to deal with the problem of marine litter and ghost nets?

This was the question posed by Dr. Vanessa Moschino of the Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR) in Venice to the students of three classes of the Liceo Einstein in Piove di Sacco (PD) during an on-line seminar held on April 21st. Starting from the analysis of the marine litter issue and its impacts on both the environment and human activities, Dr. Moschino told the students about the challenges faced by the international scientific community, presenting three projects coordinated by the Institute of Marine Sciences which are exploring and testing eco-sustainable solutions to reduce the amounts and the impacts of marine litter. In particular, the management strategies to prevent and mitigate the abandonment of fishing gear at sea developed within the GHOST project, as well as the results obtained within the marGnet project leading to the realisation of a prototype for the chemical recycling of marine litter (https://www.margnet.eu/it/il-progetto/) were presented to the students.

Finally, it was the occasion to present a new and ambitious project which started in January 2021, called MAELSTROM, whose main aim is to develop new technologies to identify and remove marine litter from seas and rivers through the use of automated systems, in order to proceed to their recycling and to marketize the recycled products (https://www.maelstrom-h2020.eu/).

GHOST project at the 2021 Boat Show

On the occasion of the 2021 Boat Show (Venice, Italy), the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council - set up an exhibition dedicated to the contribution offered by scientific research for the development of the Country, through a selection of platforms and technological systems for the environmental monitoring declined in all its forms and for the recovery and the recycling of marine litter.

The instrumentation used for monitoring the seabed and the results obtained by GHOST project, as well as the video of the prototype developed by marGnet project for the transformation of the marine litter into marine fuel, are presented in a thematic stand, along with the information panels of Maelstrom, a new project started in 2021 and aimed at developing and testing innovative and automated technologies for the marine litter removal.

The exhibition is open to the public from 29/05/2021 at 10.00 to 06/06/2021 at 18.00

At Tesa 102 - Arsenale, Castello 2737 / F, 30122 Venice, Italy

More information at the following link:

https://www.cnr.it/it/evento/17316?fbclid=IwAR2AufkG4YLHWu0kU4AdHLJk7V_GjLDvNOQK3Ngmqabvvib-IQn_WaMuGos

Final conference of BlueMed Initiative

The final conference of the “BlueMed” project - “One Mediterranean: practices, results and strategies for a common Sea” is taking place these days.

Three days to talk about the European initiative dedicated at promoting sustainable and shared development of the entire sea-based economy in the Mediterranean area, which led to the realisation of a shared Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and a detailed  Implementation Plan presenting the shared priority goals.  Among the various initiatives, there is also the launch of a Pilot Initiative for a Healthy, Plastic-free Mediterranean Sea aimed at mapping and networking the initiatives of the various countries to tackle marine litter issue.

Some footage of the film concerning the ghost nets was granted by the LIFE-GHOST project for the realization of the conference official video,  which can be viewed at the following link: 

https://fb.watch/3QNOEIiJcy/

More information on the #BlueMed initiative is available at the following link:

http://www.bluemed-initiative.eu/about-the-bluemed-initiative/