“The NETTAG+ project, funded by the European Union, aims to combat fishing waste and mitigate its effects on marine life.”

“There are countless types of marine debris that can be found on the seabed, but one that stands out as particularly dangerous, is ghost fishing gear.”

“As they continue to catch marine life, ghost fishing gear is slowly transforming parts of the ocean into an "equipment graveyard," dangerous even for fishermen themselves.”

“"Fishing nets can pose a safety problem for boats," Juan Pablo Pérez, a fisherman in the Póvoa de Varzim area of Porto, tells Euronews.”

“The NETTAG+ initiative, which brings together scientists, engineers and fishermen, is designed to prevent and recover lost equipment, mitigating the harmful effect of this waste, in a project that works on several fronts.”

“One of them is technological, with the project developing acoustic tags containing a unique identifier, which are placed on fishing nets, allowing them to be tracked via a mobile application, even from more than two kilometres away.”

“"An acoustic localisation system, with small devices that attach to a net or fishing gear and, if that equipment is left on the seabed, I can then, from the surface, using sound communication, ask where that lost net is and find it," explains Alfredo Martins, a researcher at the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) and professor at the Porto Higher Institute of Engineering.”