Healthy Seas and GAMOMAT Support ghost net removal in Spain’s Bolets PEIN area
The operation helped protect sensitive marine habitats while also supporting Posidonia oceanica replanting efforts in the area.
At the end of April 2026, the Healthy Seas Foundation, with Ghost Diving Spain, completed a marine litter recovery mission in the Bolets PEIN Area, Spain, with the valued support of GAMOMAT.
Originally planned for 2025 but postponed due to adverse weather conditions, the mission brought together eight volunteer divers for two dives at 30 meters depth, resulting in the recovery of 80 kg (140 m²) of abandoned trammel net from the seabed.
The intervention took place in an area historically impacted by intensive fishing activity and the loss of fishing gear on the seafloor. The abandoned net was located near Posidonia oceanica meadows and sensitive marine habitats that are important for the recovery of lobsters and other marine species.
Posidonia oceanica is one of the Mediterranean’s most valuable ecosystems, providing shelter and breeding grounds for marine life, stabilizing the seabed, producing oxygen, and storing significant amounts of carbon. Because of previous and ongoing restoration efforts in the area, divers were also able to support the replanting of damaged Posidonia fragments during the mission.
Previous long-term similar interventions in the area have consolidated Muladera as a reference case for progressive ecosystem recovery and highlighted the importance of continued collaboration to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems from the impacts of lost fishing gear.
A special thank you to our partner GAMOMAT for supporting this project and helping make a positive impact beneath the surface.
