Re:Fish project contributed to a cleaner Baltic Sea

Preventing marine litter is far more effective and far less costly than cleaning it up afterwards. This is one of the key takeaways from the three-year cross-border environmental project Re:Fish, which have tackled the plastic pollution from recreational fishing in the Central Baltic Sea.

Funded by the EU Interreg Central Baltic Programme, Re:Fish brought together Håll Sverige Rent (Sweden), the Finnish Environment Institute, Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association (Finland), and the University of Tartu (Estonia) on how to address the issue of abandoned, lost, and discarded recreational fishing gear.

Through coordinated dragging and diving operations, the project cleaned 228 km² of Baltic Sea coastal waters. This resulted in the removal of 8,763 metres of gillnets and 2,044 kg of abandoned fishing gear. Some of the retrieved plastic nets were analysed to assess their potential for material reuse. In addition, recycling stations for end-of-life fishing gear were established in Finland and Estonia.

The project also collected 1,237 kg of additional marine litter from the Baltic Sea and surrounding beaches. These efforts not only helped restore marine habitats but also prevented long-term environmental damage. Lost fishing gear, often referred to as “ghost gear”, can continue trapping fish and wildlife for decades, contributing to habitat degradation, entanglement, and ingestion by marine organisms.

Building Awareness

While clean-up operations delivered visible results, Re:Fish placed equal emphasis on behavioural research, stakeholder engagement, and policy alignment.

Surveys were conducted to better understand recreational fishers’ attitudes and practices regarding gear loss. The findings, combined with insights gathered through workshops involving government authorities, organisations, retailers, and producers, provide a strong foundation for more effective future strategies and policy implementation. The results also offer guidance on compliance with the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUP Directive). Since January 2025, producers and sellers of plastic fishing gear have been required to take responsibility for collecting end-of-life gear and ensuring proper waste management. Comprehensive project reports will be published in 2026 via the Central Baltic Programme and partners’ websites.

Throughout the project, public awareness campaigns and events reached more than 8.6 million people across Finland, Sweden, and Estonia, further strengthening responsible practices in recreational fishing.

A Model for Cross-Border Cooperation

The EU Interreg Central Baltic Programme Secretariat has highlighted Re:Fish as “a strong example of hands-on environmental action that combines practical retrieval with preventive measures and citizen engagement.”

The project’s strength lies in its cross-border collaboration, bringing together authorities, researchers, recreational fishers, and youth from three countries to share knowledge and scale solutions.

The Finnish Environment Institute’s Rosgis reporting service, promoted throughout the project, is an effective tool enabling citizens around the Baltic Sea to report lost fishing gear and other litter. It is published in five languages Finnish, English, Estonian, Latvian and Swedish. By strengthening public participation and citizen science, it contributes directly to a cleaner marine environment.