Guardians of the Sea

1. Guardians of the Sea • Fishermen are seamen • They know their area best • They watch out and see what is happening Fishers own competences • as expert seamen • as observers • as a rapid reaction force?

2. Fishers can help solve problems at sea Latest concept «Fishing for Litter» • to pay fishers for taking litter ashore, • not when picking it up accidentally but • by actively targeting litter with specifically designed gear.

3. Eventually, the waste, mostly plastic, is expected to be paid for as a raw material for recycling. At that stage, no more public funding would be necessary – fishing for litter would have become self-sustained.

4. First experiences made • On a voluntary basis 350 vessels from 35 harbours have been fishing for litter for quite some time outside the Mediterranean, like in my own region, on the German Baltic Sea coast, but without any public funding, except for landside disposal of the litter. • Now it can be the turn of your own sea, vaše morje, and it is your role to be its guardians.

5. Shame or honour? Certain fishers abroad commented it was a shame for them to empty dustbins when unloading to quayside. We should perhaps ask if it is a shame for a garbageman to empty a dustbin? Fishers know best what plastic waste does to the marine environment: it simply chokes it.

6. Care for your environment • By taking the trash out of the sea fishers are looking after their own environment, vaše morje. • They are letting their stocks recover from too much pressure in overcrowded fishing grounds like in Slovenian territorial waters. • And they may receive funding for it from the EFF:

7. Under Axis 1 you find «Socio-economic compensation for the management of the Community fishing fleet». • One option there is «the diversification of activities with a view to promoting multiple activities for fishers»: • That measure forms already part of the Slovenian EFF Operational Programme.

8. Under Axis 3 «Collective Actions» allow for contributions to financing operations for the removal of lost fishing gear from the sea bed. • Then under «Fishing Ports Facilities» EFF may co-finance investment in storage and treatment of waste related to fishing activities. • These options are not, or not yet, part of the OP, but there is a good reason why we are telling you all this now and here:

9. Under Axis 4 EFF may co-finance operations to "protect the environment in fisheries areas in order to maintain its attractiveness, …". • Thus EFF may support the collecting and stocking of marine litter in the port by individuals or by collective actions. • But, in order to use this option, a Fisheries Local Action Group must first exist in the relevant area, and the operations should fit in the local strategy developed by the FLAG, and they should be in line with the bottom-up approach of Axis 4.

10. What you decide and make happen within your Fisheries Local Action Group is your business – that is the bottom-up approach. • You could also pick-up an option from Axis 3 and promote partnerships between scientists and operators in the fisheries sector. • That, too, is included in your Operational Programme.

11. We know of a precedent in France, the so-called «Contrats bleus», the «Blue Assignments» where such a co-operation already takes place. • If you are interested I could offer you a separate presentation on that subject. • Yet, who could be the partners? • The Marine Biological Institute in Piran for instance?

12. Still, there are other opportunities: • Safety at Sea – fishers are those who know their sea area best. • Could you not take part in monitoring the sea traffic and help with search and rescue operations? • Could you not watch out for alien species, algae bloom, water pollution, oil accidents or even illegal fishing if you are Guardians of the Sea? • There is a sea of opportunities here for fishers who will refrain from fishing. Thank you.