SEARCULAR: Sustainable solutions for fishing gear

In view of the increasing pollution of the oceans, which EU President Ursula von der Leyen described as a serious threat to marine health at the One Ocean Summit, SEARCULAR develops innovative materials for fishing gear and circular concepts.

Main goal of SEARCULAR is reducing the input of marine litter and microplastics from the European fishing industry. Fishing gear is a common source of marine-based litter, which impacts ecosystems, fish stocks and reduces the sustainability of fisheries. Under the European Green Deal and similar policy directives, European fisheries are set to undergo the transition towards a circular economy. This is where SEARCULAR comes in to help tackle fisheries marine litter and introduce circular economy practices across the fisheries value chain from port to sea. As a result, the project will help support sustainable livelihoods and healthy marine ecosystems.

Current challenges:

1. High amounts of marine litter: The fishing industry is one of the largest sources of marine litter. According to estimates, around 5.7 percent of all fishing nets, 8.6 percent of all traps, 29 percent of all lines and up to 40 percent of the drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) used are lost worldwide every year.
2. Microplastic pollution: The abrasion and wear and tear of fishing gear lead to the release of large amounts of microplastics into the oceans. In Norway, it is estimated that bottom trawling releases between 77 and 97 tons of microplastics into the sea every year, which poses a significant threat to the health of marine ecosystems. The use of dolly ropes is widespread in bottom trawling, and their lifespan ranges only between three weeks and six months, caused by steady abrasion of the material during use.
3. Lack of recycling solutions: Currently, there are few practical examples of collecting and recycling end-of-life fishing gear. The products are often made of different materials and polymers that are difficult to recycle. The Single-Use Plastics Directive, which has been in force since 2021, sets minimum collection rates and recycling targets, but there is a lack of concrete implementation examples that put recycling into practice.

SEARCULAR exemplarily addresses fishing fleets of demersal trawlers and tropical tuna purse seiners. The focus is on the introduction of solutions inspired by circular economy. Ultimately, they should lead to rethinking and changing fishing gear design.

Specifically, four sustainable and circular solutions will be tested and validated:

1. Recycled polyamide as alternative materials or dolly ropes
2. Biodegradable demersal seine ropes
3. Ecologically designed and biodegradable drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs)
4. Sustainable end-of-life management for fishing gear (management system for the disposal of end-of-life fishing gear in ports that allows for recycling)

In summary, the project partners want to both reduce the environmental impact and to inform all key stakeholders to enable a wider implementation of environmentally friendly practices in the fishery industry.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT contributes to SEARCULAR by comparing the biodegradable solutions (2 and 3) with state-of-the-art non-degradable products using life cycle analyses LCA. We additionally apply a self-developed innovative approach^{[1] [2]} to account for plastics emissions in such environmental assessment.

^{[1] Maga, D., Galafton, C., Blömer, J. et al. Methodology to address potential impacts of plastic emissions in life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 27, 469–491 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02040-1}

^{[2] Galafton, C., Thonemann, N. & Vijver, M.G. It is time to develop characterization factors for terrestrial plastic pollution impacts on ecosystems in life cycle impact assessment – a systematic review identifying knowledge gaps. Int J Life Cycle Assess 30, 994–1010 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-025-02446-7}

• AZTI
• SINTEF Ocean
• Gaiker
• Plastic Energy
• VTT Technical Research Center of Finland
• Associação para um Laboratório Colaborativo do Atlântico (+Atlantic)
• UiT The Arctic University of Norway
• Selstad
• SARETU
• Mindfully Wired Communications
• ISSF International Seafood Sustainability Foundation