Making the fishing industry greener one net at a time

Currently, NYP operates in Washington, California, Alaska, Maine, and Massachusetts, with plans to further expand into southeastern states such as Louisiana and Florida. I had the privilege of meeting Caity Townsend, the Massachusetts Representative for NYP, at this year’s Maine Fishermen’s Forum. We discussed NYP’s mission and the profound impact they have had on promoting ocean sustainability. With organizations like NYP, we can continue to support the dedicated stewards of the sea—our fishermen.

Caity and I both share deep roots in fishing, spanning across generations, and we have a fervent passion for fisheries and preserving this way of life. What better way to protect our oceans than by establishing an economically viable pathway for recycling end-of-life fishing gear?

BY CARLI STEWART

Ihad the incredible opportunity to engage in a conversation with Nicole Baker, the visionary behind Net Your Problem (NYP), an enterprise dedicated to recycling end-of-life fishing gear. Nicole’s background as a North Pacific groundfish fisheries observer from 2010 to 2015 fostered a strong connection to the commercial fishing industry, propelling her to explore ways to make it more sustainable. While working in Dutch Harbor during that time, she encountered numerous worn-out fishing nets, which sparked her interest in finding solutions for recycling them.

T he initial spark of inspiration for Nicole came from a nonprofit organization that had collected nets from an illegal fishing operation and repurposed the material to create shoes. She realized that these nets, made of plastics, ultimately ended up in landfills once they reached the end of their useful lives. This revelation led her to recognize the vast amounts of unusable

Although NYP originated in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Nicole expanded its

Net Your Problem stands at the forefront of promoting a circular economy and reducing energy consumption in plastic manufacturing. Their website provides links for individuals to engage their fishing vessels or fleets in NYP’s recycling program. Additionally, the website offers resources for government agencies, net and gear manufacturers, outreach organizations, and brands aiming to enhance their sustainability practices.

Nicole shared with me the challenge of encapsulating the significance that NYP has brought to numerous fishing ports across the United States. Nevertheless, she proudly stated that they have collected nearly 1.25 million pounds of gear thus far.

“I have this mental ticker in my brain, always pushing us to grow and move onward and upward. The impact even a single vessel can have on our progress highlights the necessity of initiatives like NYP,” Nicole shares.

“Just the other day, we collected 30,000 pounds from a single boat in Kodiak.”

Nicole explains that while the weight may not always be substantial in certain locations, the impact is undoubtedly signi cant. Each shackle on a Bristol Bay gillnet weighs approximately fteen pounds. To collect 24,000 pounds, it would require the collection of 1,600 individual shackles.

“By focusing solely on the total weight, it’s challenging to gauge the true impact. However, overall, it feels like we have made tremendous progress,” Nicole adds.

One of the key resources that Nicole and her team seek are warehouses near the shing ports where they collect gear. Currently, they have one warehouse in Seattle, and in Alaska, they rely on subcontracted gear storage since they do not own the storage space themselves.

In New Bedford, Mass., NYP has a warehouse that accepts gear drop-o s, and there is a rope depot in Freeport, Maine, that facilitates similar transactions. e initial goal is to establish NYP warehouses in all ports, providing shermen with a convenient location to discard their gear once it has reached the end of its useful life. Typically, the team operates out of a 40-foot shipping container to ensure e cient transportation. e recyclers they work with are based in British Columbia, Portugal, and Denmark. e NYP team stores everything in warehouses until they have accumulated enough to load a container for shipment overseas.

Nicole emphasizes the collaborative nature of her team, expressing gratitude for the passionate individuals involved in the shing industry. “A friend of mine once said it’s like working on a short dock, you know? We’re constantly swimming in the same schools, bumping into familiar faces. is industry binds us together,” Nicole says with a smirk.

“I wasn’t the rst person to conceive this idea.” e Curyung Tribe of Dillingham has been engaged in cleanup e orts for over a decade, while the Copper River Watershed Project in Cordova has also collected nets prior to NYP’s involvement. Both groups shared with Nicole that several years ago, China stopped accepting recyclable materials. As a result, the three organizations began collaborating to explore alternative options for recycling the nets. Nicole shares, “ ese are two of our partners who work directly in the communities, engaging with shermen, collecting and sorting the gear, and going through the recycling process on-site.” cstewart@divcom.com

In addition to their own collection programs, NYP supports other groups that have previously gathered nets, helping them nd new destinations.

Net Your Problem collaborates with partners who have years of experience in this eld and who support them by providing gear storage and warehouses along the West Coast and in Alaska.

Nicole also mentioned the other partners who helped fund NYP’s rst-year Bristol Bay program. Grundens has been a signi cant supporter of their work, along with Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, Seattle Marine, LFS, Trident, and Leader Creek. Together, they fully endorse the collection of end-of-life gear and form a multi-stakeholder group dedicated to the success of our sheries and sustainability.

Nicole concludes, “Just because we don’t have a collection program where you sh doesn’t mean we’re not considering it.” She encourages shermen from all regions to reach out to Net Your Problem, as they are always looking for ways to expand their reach and make a positive impact on more shing communities.

Is a Content Specialist for National Fishermen. She comes from a fourth-generation shing family o the coast of Maine. Her background consists of growing her own business within the marine community. She resides on one of the islands o the coast of Maine while also supporting the lobster community she grew up in.