Six Stories from the Sea: Inside Operation Ghost Farms
How illustration helps tell the full story behind abandoned fish farms—from clean-ups to communities, from waste to renewal.
Abandoned fish farms—also known as ghost farms—are often seen as a technical problem, something to be solved through clean-ups or regulations. But the reality is much more complex. They affect marine ecosystems, local communities, tourism, fisheries, and coastal safety. They require months of preparation, international cooperation, scientific monitoring, education, and long-term commitment.
At the end of 2025, during our latest mission in Methana, Greece, illustrator Alessandro Pastore (Pastoraccia) joined the team of the Healthy Seas Foundation for five days at sea and on land. Embedded in the operation, he observed every phase of the work, from surveys to dives, from logistics to teamwork, transforming real experiences into visual stories. The result is a series of six illustrated chapters created by Alessandro for Healthy Seas, translating the complexity of ghost farm clean-ups into a language that is accessible, engaging, and easy to understand.
Because solving ghost farms doesn’t depend on a single organization. It depends on awareness, shared responsibility, and collective action.
Why Six Stories?
During five days on mission in Methana, Alessandro followed the team closely, sketching, listening, and documenting daily life on board and underwater. From these observations, six stories were born.
Ghost farms are about systems, people, materials, impacts, and collaboration. With these six stories, we wanted to show how every clean-up connects multiple worlds: logistics, policy, education, industry, and community.
Each chapter focuses on one essential piece of the puzzle. Together, they tell the full story.
The Six Chapters
BEGINNING
Understanding Ghost Farms
What are ghost farms? Where are they found? How widespread is the problem?
CLEAN UP
How a Ghost Farm Is Removed
From permits to vessels, from divers to cranes. This story shows what it really takes to organize and carry out a clean-up mission.
MATERIALS
A Fish Farm Glossary
Plastic pipes, nylon nets, metal cages, buoys. This chapter explains what abandoned farms are made of—and what happens to these materials after recovery.
IMPACT
Environmental, Social, and Economic Effects
Ghost farms damage ecosystems, restrict fisheries, reduce tourism, and threaten livelihoods. This story explores the visible and invisible consequences of abandonment imagining a monster made of fish farming rings that wonders around the coatal area.
NETWORK
The People Behind the Clean-Ups
No mission happens alone. From surveys to divers, from recyclers to educators, this chapter maps the network that makes each operation possible.
BEHIND THE NET
People behind the nets
Drawn directly from Alessandro’s time embedded with the team in Methana and inspired by some of the volunteers on the project.
We believe that environmental challenges become solvable only when people understand them. Illustration allows us to:
- simplify complex systems without oversimplifying
- reach new audiences
- make technical processes relatable
- turn data into stories
- and transform problems into shared narratives
By making ghost farms understandable, we make them harder to ignore. And by sharing these stories widely, we help build the collective support needed to prevent abandonment before it happens.
From Stories to Action
These illustrated chapters will also be shared as carousel posts on our social channels so they can travel beyond reports and specialist circles, reaching classrooms, families, professionals, and decision-makers.
Every view, share, and conversation helps expand the network working to protect our seas. Because restoring marine ecosystems is not only about removing waste. It is about changing how we design, manage, and care for our coasts, together.
Want to be part of this story? Follow the series, share it, and help spread awareness.
Support clean-up and prevention projects. Partner with us. Bring these stories into your community. It truly takes a village to reclaim the sea!
Some shots from the behind the scene of Alessandro's work on the project
