Healthy Seas

It is estimated that globally, 640,000 tons of fishing gear is left behind in seas and oceans every year. This kills millions of marine animals annually and damages marine environments. Healthy Seas was established in 2013 with the aim of combating "ghost fishing". Ghost fishing refers to marine life getting entangled in dumped or abandoned fishing nets in the sea, known as ghost nets. Healthy Seas organizes cleanup actions with divers and collaborates with stakeholders in the fishing industry, also focusing on prevention. Retrieved nylon fishing nets, along with other nylon waste, are regenerated by Aquafil into ECONYL®. Other types of recovered plastics are reused or recycled.

Images from a recovery mission in the Adriatic Sea - Photo by Derk Remmers - Ghost Diving

A standard fishing net consists largely of Nylon6. Nylon6 is the material that can be regenerated without loss of quality in the ECONYL® regeneration system. You can read more about this revolutionary system HERE. The company behind ECONYL®, Aquafil, is co-founder of Healthy Seas together with Ghost Diving and Star Sock.

We often see the assumption that the entire production of ECONYL® comes from the nets collected by Healthy Seas. This is not the case. ECONYL® is made from about 50% nylon6 derived from fishing nets, with the majority of these nets coming from aquaculture. The ghost nets constitute only a small part because the missions organized by Healthy Seas are highly intensive. However, this does not mean they are unnecessary or insignificant. Protecting marine ecosystems is of utmost importance.

The goal is to collect 35,000 tons of post-consumer waste by 2025 to make ECONYL®. In 2022, the Healthy Seas initiative collected 132.5 tons of waste.

The activities of Healthy Seas are shaped around three themes: cleanup operations ('Cleanups'), prevention efforts, and education. Healthy Seas is active in the following regions: North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, Red Sea, Baltic Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.

New Weave is a partner of Healthy Seas. We donate 5% of the net sales price of the Circular 1 collection to Healthy Seas to further their mission.