Fishing for Litter

Port of Ancona, 2 a.m. From here, the Barracuda I sets sail, a fishing boat that for an entire day becomes an open-air laboratory. On board are the fishermen, a young biologist from CNR IRBIM, and me, filmmaker and producer of Plastic Reborn. I chose to spend 24 hours with them to tell, from the inside, a journey that unites maritime tradition with scientific research.

Each time the nets rise from the seabed, fragments of our era emerge alongside the fish: bottles, ropes, remnants of polystyrene crates, worn-out nets. Waste that the sea holds and returns, signs of a global crisis shaped by plastic. In just ten months, only two vessels have brought ashore about three tons of debris, 80% of which is plastic.

This is the heart of the project coordinated by CNR IRBIM within Spoke 2 of the National Biodiversity Future Center: transforming Fishing for Litter into an opportunity for a circular economy. Every piece of waste is catalogued, analyzed, and, when possible, sent for recycling. Not everything can be given a new life: marine encrustations, sand, and material wear are enormous obstacles. Yet recycling technologies are advancing, and what yesterday seemed impossible can today become reality.

As night blankets the deck of the Barracuda, the fishermen unload sacks full of debris onto the quay. It is hard work, but it carries a promise: a future where fishermen not only catch fish but also become custodians of the sea. “Every time we bring a piece of plastic ashore,” explains Elisa Punzo, researcher at CNR IRBIM, “we help clean the seabed and restore hope to the ecosystem.”

Telling this story through my camera means showing that behind the numbers there are faces, hands, and the courage of those who choose not to look away. Plastic Reborn is this: an attempt to transform waste into material, problems into opportunities, and the sea from a dumping ground into a new source of life.