Preventive Measures for Averting the Discarding of Litter in the Marine Environment from the Aquaculture Industry (AQUA-LIT)

Short description of the project: AQUA-LIT was a two-year project funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), aimed at preventing marine litter from entering the sea.

Tangible results: The project developed a toolbox that can provide existing, upcoming and already implemented tools, case studies, best practices, a database and links between stakeholders for addressing the 3 main components of marine littering from aquaculture activities: prevention & reduction, monitoring & quantification, and removal & recycling. It encompasses three sea basins: the Mediterranean basin, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea regions.

Application/relevance: The toolbox can be used as a guidance for the management of the marine litter that comes from aquaculture in the European context. The targeted audience includes aquaculture farmers; professional clusters, associations and platform representatives; policy makers; port authorities; aquaculture gear and equipment producers; engineering, system design and construction companies; plastic manufacturers; waste managers; researchers; environmental and social consultancies; NGOs; classification and certification bodies; communicators and any other interested person.