Vox Maris: the project protecting the Mediterranean from ghost nets – Every year, between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes of fishing gear end up in the oceans. In the Mediterranean alone, it is estimated that around 100,000 tonnes of nets and other gear are abandoned or lost at sea, with serious consequences for marine biodiversity, the fishing economy and navigation safety. So-called ‘ghost nets’ continue to trap and kill fish and other marine species, damage sensitive habitats and pose a real threat to the future of sustainable fisheries.
This is the background to Vox Maris, the project developed by the BioDesign Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, which preserves and renews the intellectual and design legacy of Luigi Colani, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. The initiative provides a concrete and replicable solution to the problem of end-of-life fishing gear, integrating circular economy logics and actively involving fishing communities, port authorities and the recycling industry.
Vox Maris was created to significantly reduce the environmental impact of commercial fishing and restore the conditions for real and measurable regeneration to the sea. The project is divided into three operational areas: Zero Nets at Sea, Zero Oil at Sea and the Life Save Project, all aimed at eliminating the negative externalities of industrial fishing and promoting responsible management of fishing gear.
Since 2021, Vox Maris has been active at the Chioggia fish market, one of Italy’s main fishing hubs. Here, a system of collection and management of discarded materials has been set up, directly involving local fishermen. To date, over 800,000 kilograms of fishing nets have been recovered and processed, which would otherwise have ended up in the sea contributing to plastic pollution and ghost fishing.
Chioggia is only the beginning. There are 272 fishing ports in Italy, and the BioDesign Foundation’s goal is to extend the Vox Maris model throughout the Mediterranean, a maritime basin that is home to some 75,000 fishing boats and that every year risks seeing tens of thousands of tonnes of synthetic, plastic nets dispersed in the water.
In support of the project, the Phileas Expedition – the Sail of the Keepers is the educational and dissemination engine of Vox Maris. On board the vessel, BioDesign Foundation teams conduct training workshops and awareness-raising sessions aimed at fishermen, teaching them the practices of collecting, releasing and managing end-of-life gear.
The numbers related to the loss of fishing gear globally and in the Mediterranean are dramatic:
– Approximately $1 billion in annual damage to the global fishing industry, according to FAO estimates.
– 5-10 million tonnes of fish lost annually due to ghost fishing.
– 136,000 whales, seals, sea lions and sea turtles are killed each year, trapped in abandoned nets.
– Synthetic nets can take up to 1,000 years to degrade completely, generating in the meantime microplastics that contaminate the food chain and marine ecosystems.
Vox Maris intervenes in this structural emergency, proposing a concrete and replicable response, based on the synergy between technology, social innovation and environmental responsibility.
The Phileas 2024-2025 calendar includes stops at the main Mediterranean ports, including Marina di Carrara, Fiumicino, Porticello, Mazara del Vallo and Malta, with the ambition of consolidating a network of ‘guardian’ ports actively committed to protecting marine biodiversity.
The philosophy guiding the project is based on the inspiring principles of Luigi Colani, according to whom ‘we have never been able to be better than nature’. The mission of Vox Maris today is to show that we can still be allies of nature by promoting sustainable and traceable fishing that protects the environment and ensures a solid future for the entire fishing industry.
The message to businesses and communities is clear: becoming Custodians of the Future means investing in biodiversity as a collective asset and in the sea as a common resource to be preserved. Vox Maris represents a concrete opportunity to combine environmental sustainability and economic development, restoring value to every actor in the fishing chain.
Vox Maris: the project that protects the Mediterranean from ghost nets
