Our circular economy team has celebrated the milestone of 200 tons of waste collected with the fishers involved in the ‘Fishing for litter in Guanabara Bay’ project and honoured them for International Fisherman’s Day, celebrated on 29 June.
The day of recognition highlights this traditional craft’s role in combating ocean pollution, with each piece of waste removed contributing to the protection of marine life and ecosystem and human health.
BVRio’s mission goes beyond waste collection; it is also about empowering and supporting fishing communities, an approach that has a transformative potential to effectively combat ocean pollution and generate a lasting social and environmental impact by raising awareness about the importance of marine preservation.
Thales, one of the fishers involved commented, “The project is very good because it gives jobs to several people without a full income, as well as helping Guanabara Bay. We find all sorts of things at the Bay, from hard plastic to tyres, pieces of metal and a lot of styrofoam. Sometimes we have difficulties accessing the mangrove because of the tide and getting the waste into the boat because it is covered with mud, and we need to cut the mattresses into pieces to carry it out. Our advantage is our experience with the mangroves, we know the right time to get to and from them.”
“We are really proud of each fisher and team member’s commitment and dedication to making this milestone possible. Together we are demonstrating how by empowering the right people, in the right way, we can make a big difference, and we hope to be able to replicate this success with other fishing communities.” Project Manager, Pedro Succar.
The fishers are using the KOLEKT app to log their collections and sell to a local waste cooperative.
