The cities of Tabarka and Bizerte are among the stopovers of the 2021 edition of the Mediterranean Sea crossing of Blue Panda, a sailing ship of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) aimed at raising awareness against ghost nets.
The WWF’s sailboat ambassador will be hosted at the Port of Tabarka on October 8-12 and at the Marina of Bizerte on October 13-17, 2021.
Ghost nets are a very dangerous form of marine plastic pollution. According to the WWF report “Stop Ghost Gear” 5.7% of all fishing nets, 8.6% of traps and pots and 29% of all fishing line used worldwide are abandoned, discarded or lost at sea.
From France to Turkey, via Italy and Tunisia, the Blue Panda hopes to mobilise a maximum number of people around the need to preserve marine biodiversity.
Concurrently with these stopovers, WWF Tunisia will organise several awareness-raising activities over 10 days, mainly with civil society, to engage people in preserving the Mediterranean Sea from plastic pollution and ghost nets.
Still in the framework of the Blue Panda initiative, and referring to the testimonies of local fishermen, several of whom reported the presence of ghost nets on the seabed of Tabarka, denouncing their devastating effects on fishing and more generally on fish stocks in the region, WWF North Africa has just launched a call for consultations to recruit a diving services company to identify, as a first step, the sites where ghost nets are located in Tabarka.
The main task of this company will be to conduct a series of seabed surveys in Tabarka in search of ghost nets still present in the vicinity of the future Marine and Coastal Protected Area of Tabarka, with the possibility of extending the search area if the surveys are not conclusive.
A map of the places where these ghost nets were found will be drawn up, with an estimate of the quantity of nets found. These elements will be integrated into the WWF Global Ghost Gear database.
In a second phase, this company/consultant will be in charge of assisting the “Blue Panda” team during their stay in Tabarka to find the abandoned nets and to ensure that the extraction and storage of the nets at the quayside is carried out correctly.
Between June and November, The Blue Panda will journey to 6 Marine Protected Areas, where it will explore hidden deep-sea habitats and species, meet with local communities, and work together to protect Mediterranean treasure from ghost gear and other threats.
The Blue Panda unites communities in protecting the Mediterranean Sea’s unique natural and cultural beauty. It brings the voice of the Sea to the local communities along its coasts, and the millions of visitors enjoying its bounty every year. The Blue Panda strengthens the movement of Mediterranean Keepers fighting to save Mediterranean Sea’s treasures for future generations.
It will ensure that at least 30% of this unique environment is effectively protected by 2030.
Source: TAP News Agency