Recycled fishing net

Beachcombers

Beachcombing or strandjutten in Dutch. Is a term to describe the scavenging of things washed up the shore.

The project is a design fiction scenario in which people who live in villages near the sea have come up with a new handcraft to clean up the shorelines. They are passing their days collecting nets and ropes that have been washed up the shore, a by-product of unsustainable fishing industries. Beachcombers represent the future of handcrafted souvenirs, influenced by marine pollution.

Lost and abandoned fishing gear makes up the majority of large plastic pollution in the oceans. More than 640,000 tonnes of nets used in commercial fishing are dumped and discarded in the sea every year. Monofilament lines and rope are the major ghost gear types. One of the consequences of ghost net existence is the impact on the landscape of the shorelines and financial loss for the tourism industry.

Using the debris to make baskets and trade them as souvenirs, will create a new culture around the people who live near open waters. The products of this new craft belong in a world where extreme aspects of the waste scene have metamorphosed into whole environments.

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