Biodegradable fishing nets may help protect marine animals

When synthetic non-biodegradable fishing nets are lost, abandoned, or discarded at sea, they may continue to catch fish and other animals for a long period of time—a phenomenon is known as 'ghost fishing'.

New research shows that a biodegradable net material can be used to create that have similar catch rates as conventional nets but decompose after a certain period of time under water.

The Animal Conservation findings suggest that biodegradable netting may become a feasible alternative to conventional nylon netting and can contribute to reducing ghost fishing.

More information: S. Kim et al. Use of biodegradable driftnets to prevent ghost fishing: physical properties and fishing performance for yellow croaker, Animal Conservation (2016). DOI: 10.1111/acv.12256

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Citation: Biodegradable fishing nets may help protect marine animals (2016, February 1) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2016-02-biodegradable-fishing-nets-marine-animals.html
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