NORWAY'S AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGY

Nine thousand kilos of discarded fishing nets have been collected for recycling into carpet tiles, drastically transforming littered beaches along the Danajon Bank,Philippines.
Every year tonnes of abandoned or lost fishing nets entangle and needlessly kill fish and other marine life, while polluting beaches and villages. The success of this year-long pilot between conservationists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), global carpet tile manufacturer Interface, Inc, together with local partners that include Project Seahorse Foundation (PSF), heralds a new approach to saving our seas by keeping discarded nets out of them.The innovative project, called Net-WorksTM, has so far involved 892 local fishers and their families combing nearby beaches to collect fishing nets, which they then exchange for payment at local community banks created for the project. For every two and a half kilos of nets collected, villagers receive enough money to buy a kilo of rice – providing an extra meal for a family of 5 in a place where many families struggle to eat 3 times a day. Additionally, the community banks provide basic financial support so families can save extra money to improve their financial security.The recycled nets will be incorporated into Interface's brand new carpet tile collection called Net EffectTM, which is being announced today.