Christopher storey

The damage caused by ghost nets in the depths of our oceans is gigantic. Chris Storey fights on a daily basis to recover them, promote them and inform them.

By 2097, 80% of the earth's resources will be exhausted, together we can be part of the solution for our future generations. I help sustainable businesses involved in fascinating projects connect with clients, investors and more. My mission is to have an impact, to help people and the planet!

 

“The nets can travel up to 100 km and they have a plastic coating. It is an endless destructive cycle. "

 

This week, we dive back into our oceans to learn from Chris Storey, a pioneer of several successful green innovation start-ups and NGOs, including Sea Shepherd Portugal, GhostNetWork and Green Innovation Group. Chris' dedication to social and environmental impact and his mission to protect marine life is essential, and here's why.

- Can you tell us how GhostNetWork was born?

“The idea came in 2019. For years I have tried to educate people about ghost nets and the mess they create in the ocean - not only the microplastics they give off, but also the unnecessary killing of marine life. Most of the time, fishermen do not see the benefit of bringing the nets back to port, so the nets are thrown into the sea. The nets can go up to 100 km and are made with a plastic coating - they take many years to decompose, thus capturing the animals as they sink to the bottom of the sea, while losing microplastics, which are also ingested in dead fish and released as they decompose. It is an endless destructive cycle. I met a young man called Harry from the Waterhaul company in the UK who made various products from ghost nets which inspired me to do something here in Portugal who are the second largest consumers of fish in Europe. The biggest port near my home is Setubal, so I went to the municipality and asked them to let me do something about the nets being thrown. I got all my dive buddies together and the NGO left from there. The idea of collecting nets and giving them to artists to create something is still the same, but it has evolved. "

- What is the mission? And how is the project going in Portugal?

“The project has two components. We get "graveyard" containers from local recycling companies, which we recycle and use local graffiti artists to paint pictures of sharks or octopus trapped in netting on the boxes. We put them in various harbors with large posters telling fishermen to throw their nets in the boxes. Start-ups come and use the nets to make products and artists use them to make art. The first stage, which will start in October, will use waste from the ocean and the ghost net along the Setubal promenade. From there we will go up the coastal ports - we have a network of different initiatives that go to each port to recycle the nets. The long term goal is to go to Africa, to the former Portuguese colonies - Cape Verde, Angola and São Tomé & Príncipe - because we have good relations with them through Sea Shepherd and local NGOs.

 

- What happens to the nets once they have been retrieved from the ocean?

“There are a lot of options. You can turn nets into sunglasses, knives to cut ghost nets, garbage collectors, shoes and furniture. We are leading a project with Nelo, one of the pioneers of kayak based in Portugal, to make a kayak from the nets. Patagonia uses them to make hat brims, collaborations helping to lift 35 tonnes of harmful waste out of the ocean this year alone. Recently, SeaSpiracy showed that in the Greater Pacific Garbage Zone 48% of microplastics come from ghost nets.

 

- Do you see the public and the media moving towards your program?

" Certainly. Due to COVID-19, we weren't able to do the project with the artwork in the ports initially, so instead we focused on raising awareness of the possibility of destroying ghost nets. We have transformed GhostNetwork into a community platform, where people can network and learn more about ocean plastics and ocean regeneration. We have great partners such as the Olive Ridley Project, Odyssey innovation, SeaShepherd and a large network of ghost net initiatives. There will be a lot of content on the platform - conferences, seminars, workshops, education and programs. We want to integrate it into a global community so that people can learn more about the issues surrounding the nets. Companies can then publicize and promote what they do. I think the media will find this interesting and the local Portuguese media are already reporting on the net boxes that we have placed in the ports. People must be made aware of the gravity of the situation. "

 

- How to make the reality come true and eliminate “the scapegoats” - like the widely exaggerated history of plastic straws?

"Yes - something like only 0.01% of the pollution from these straws ... It all stays well covered up because the commercial fishing industry is so big and powerful." They don't want people to know about it. With SeaSpiracy, I was happy to see the information about ghost nets being disseminated on a global scale. When we do beach cleanups with our team, the majority of things found are nets, cigarette butts and plastics of all kinds. It is about education and awareness of the general public. This case of plastic straws, however, was very beneficial in the sense that it allowed to break the craze for straw and to make a transition to paper and reusable materials, which had an impact, but the attention could have been paid elsewhere as well.

- Can you tell us about some of the NGOs with which you are in partnership?

“We're very lucky, maybe, with my network with Sea Shepherd, because we have great partners. Sea Shepherd UK has a large ghost net team and the only training in the world specializing in recovery. All these collaborators can deliver their education all over the world. Odyssey Innovation, based in the UK and Malta, is another key player in net recycling. Ghost Diving makes a big impact and makes kayaks, there's the Olive Ridley Project in the Indian Ocean which is a science-based, smart NGO that provides valuable information on ghost net recoveries and sea turtle rescues. Another very interesting project that will have to be followed closely is Plastic Playground in Holland - they do plastic Olympics - they go to the beach and collect garbage, turn it into tennis rackets or volleyball nets and play sports with the local population.

There are so many amazing innovations to talk about! We are particularly looking forward to working with the great British company B Finisterre.

 

- How can individuals get involved?

“We have the GhostNetwork platform. You can register for free. I always tell people to join their local NGO - every little movement has an impact. Food consumption is another - just cut back on meat and fish, even better if you can stop.

 

- Do you share your personal accomplishments by working with Sea Shepherd and Green Innovation Group?

“Green Innovation Group is a Denmark-based company that was originally an innovation program for green startups falling under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We now have 6000 startups in our database and we connect them with companies, investors and so on. We have a matchmaking platform that is free. It definitely inspired me and that's how I was able to develop GhostNetWork - every day I talked about these new innovations, which also gave me hope for positive change. I come from a background where I knew nothing about the green world, now I live and breathe the social impact.

Thanks to an event in Lisbon, it then led me to connect with Sea Shepherd and finally start Sea Shepherd Portugal! I am proud of the partnerships I have established within Sea Shepherd and the impact they have had on getting the message out.

 

- Can you share a special moment from one of your diving experiences?

“I'm a dive instructor, so I'm always out there. Maybe I shouldn't be writing this, but one of the things I love to do is free the octopus from the octopus cages. They are always very grateful for what you have done - they let you go to them and stroke them once they get back to the rocks. Many years ago I was showing them to tourists in the Algarve. One day I went diving with my group and found this local octopus on the rocks. He had a broken piece of glass from a bottle and was using the glass to watch us dive above him. Whenever he saw that it was us, he took out his tentacle and pointed it at us. You could grab it, it was absolutely amazing! "

 

Interview conducted by Rosanna Pycraft, freelance journalist specializing in the cultural field. Rosanna is particularly fond of sustainable food, alternative music scenes and the arts. Currently living in Lisbon, she is passionate about the environment, ecotourism and travel in order to discover local histories and different cultures.