Researchers investigate how lost ropes and fishing lines are handled by the Norwegian commercial fishing industry

Lost fishing lines and ropes are a growing problem. As a leading fishing nation, Norway, with its long coastline and fish-rich waters, is particularly vulnerable to marine litter. A new study from NTNU shows that only a third of all ropes produced and sold in Norway can be recycled in a sustainable way.The rest are burned, buried, sent out of the country—or just pile up and contribute to something called ghost fishing."Norway is heavily dependent on the blue economy, and finding solutions is becoming increasingly urgent. Without the responsible handling of ropes, the fisheries sector will never be green or sustainable," says Associate Professor Paritosh Deshpande at NTNU's Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management.He studies plastic litter in the ocean, and has made the first scientific estimates to establish how much rope is lost and how the Norwegian fisheries sector handles ropes.The researchers have analyzed 15 types of rope widely used by professional ...