Article on the WFO (Waste Free Oceans) – “Happy Fish” Project

As part of PAGEV’s projects aimed at preventing marine pollution, we carried out a new phase of our joint initiatives with PlasticsEurope and EuPC on November 8, 2011, in Ostend, Belgium, with the participation of our Vice President, Yavuz EROĞLU.
This project involves collecting marine litter using a specially designed net and delivering it to recycling companies after it is brought ashore by fishermen. In this project, central governments, local authorities, fishermen, and the plastics industry work together to prevent pollution in our seas caused by waste.

Within the scope of the project, it is aimed that fishermen—whose activities are restricted due to overfishing, and the prohibition of catching juvenile or pregnant fish—earn income during non-fishing periods by cleaning areas of the sea where waste accumulates using special nets. In this way, while preventing fishermen—who form a critical link in the nation’s food security chain—from abandoning their profession due to income loss, marine pollution is simultaneously cleaned by experts of the sea.

Following our initial pilot project in Nice, France, we implemented another similar pilot project in the coastal city of Ostend, Belgium, together with our project partner EuPC.

The pilot project took place with the participation of Anne Rosenbach, a Member of the European Parliament who supports the project. Maria Damanaki, Chair of the European Union Fisheries Commission and a key figure in securing EU funding for the project’s European phase, was also present. Belgian State Minister Mr. Johan Vande Lanotte was among the supporters as well.

During the event, which attracted significant attention from the Belgian press, guests and media representatives observed the collection of marine litter using the specially developed net and its delivery to recycling facilities.

In his meeting with Maria Damanaki, Vice President Yavuz EROĞLU requested the support of the European Fisheries Fund for the Turkish phase of the project. EROĞLU emphasized that marine pollution is not a national issue but rather a shared problem due to the movement of pollutants across the seas. He also expressed our desire to host Ms. Damanaki at the launch of the project’s Turkey phase.
Damanaki—originally from Crete and former leader of Greece’s Synaspismos Party—received the invitation warmly.

In a separate meeting between Yavuz EROĞLU and Member of the European Parliament Anna Rosenbach, emphasis was placed on the importance the Turkish Plastics Industry attaches to sustainable growth. Ms. Rosenbach stated that she would certainly attend the Turkish launch of the project and noted that while she follows Turkey closely, the country’s impressive economic progress receives less international media attention compared to China and India—a situation that may actually be an advantage for Turkey.
It was also agreed to exchange information so that a computer game designed to teach children and young people about sustainability could be used in Turkey as well.

PAGEV has established a committee to address waste that causes marine pollution. The committee, chaired by Vice President Yavuz EROĞLU and consisting of Gülçin Güloğlu and Ali Zeki Karadeniz, is working on a pilot project expected to produce effective and widespread results.
In cooperation with the WFO (Waste Free Oceans) initiative, the project will be launched in Turkey under the name “Happy Fish.”
The project, which PAGEV President Mr. Mehmet Uysal also attended as an observer, is progressing rapidly.