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Usedom on the rise: Sea Shepherd fights against ghost nets!
In August 2025, Sea Shepherd cleaned the coasts of Usedom and Greifswald, flourished the Baltic Sea campaign and documented environmental violations.
Usedom on the rise: Sea Shepherd fights against ghost nets!
In August 2025, the environmental organization Sea Shepherd was active on and off the popular island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district. Part of the Baltic Sea campaign included measures to document violations of protective laws and the recovery of old fishing equipment. The results of the cleaning operations along the coast were particularly impressive, during which a dedicated team of around 20 people was able to collect almost 1,200 kilograms of ghost nets, as NDR reports.
Within a very short time, the team combed through 55 positions between Usedom, Greifswalder Oie and the Oderbank, extending to the Polish and Danish borders. Thanks to new diving technology, the emergency services were able to reach an impressive depth of 50 meters. This challenge succeeded, among other things, in removing web-like hazards that were found in one in three shipwrecks.
The reality of ghost nets
However, most of these nets are too old for upcycling projects, which poses an additional challenge for the environmentalists involved. This is how the networks are broken down into their components; Usable material finds a new home, while the rest is disposed of properly. In addition to the ghost nets, the activists also ensured a clean beach landscape: almost 100 kilograms of garbage were removed in Wollin and Freest. “There is something going on,” emphasize the organizers, and the exchange with tourists and local fishermen gave rise to an intensive discussion about marine protection.
Current events such as the discovery of two dead gray seals near Thiessow have made the urgency of these measures clear. According to initial findings, the animals, which are currently being autopsied at the German Maritime Museum, were healthy. Their death from bycatch in the nets cannot be ruled out, further increasing concerns about the dangers posed by ghost nets.
Joint efforts under the Global Ghost Gear Initiative
Sea Shepherd is not alone in this fight. Since April 2024, the organization has also been a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI), the world's largest alliance against ghost nets. This initiative, which has been in existence since 2015, brings together stakeholders from the fishing industry, academia, governments and NGOs to reduce the impact of lost, abandoned or discarded fishing gear, as One Earth – One Ocean explains.
In this year's Baltic Sea campaign, Sea Shepherd has already recovered almost 6,200 kilograms of nets off Bornholm and Usedom. With a total of 140 controlled positions in the Baltic Sea, the organization shows that every move counts, even in one of the most threatened marine areas in the world.
Sea Shepherd will remain active in the German Baltic Sea until the end of September and plans to continue clearing the coastal regions of ghost nets. The need for such drastic measures is more than clear: the Baltic Sea needs urgent help to protect and preserve its valuable ecosystems. As part of the global effort, every contribution is important and it shows that the commitment of the volunteers is bearing fruit.