Turkey's Marmara Sea NGO removes 95 football fields of ghost nets

The non‑governmental organization Deniz Yaşamını Koruma Derneği, led by board chair Volkan Narcı, has spent a decade clearing abandoned fishing gear from the Marmara Sea. Using boats, divers and a dedicated detection vessel, the group reports that it has extracted around 650,000 m² of ghost nets – an area the size of 95 football fields – that threaten sharks, turtles, fish and birds. Narcı warned that the nets release micro‑plastics that enter the food chain and ultimately affect human consumers.

In parallel, the NGO has pioneered coral restoration in Turkey, transplanting 650 coral fragments to the seabed with an over‑80 % survival rate, the first such effort in the country. It also monitors a marine protected area around Tavşan Island 24 hours a day with underwater cameras, supporting the national 30x30 conservation goal promoted at COP31. Citizen‑science mobile apps now let the public report and help locate further ghost‑net sites.