LIFE OASIS wins Re:Invest in Nature pitch during EU Green Week with smart solution to tackle ghost fishing gear

Somewhere in the Mediterranean right now, a fishing net that nobody wants is still catching fish. Nets, lines and floats lost or abandoned at sea - collectively known as ghost gear - keep trapping and killing marine life long after they disappear beneath the waves. Ghost gear is a major threat to the loggerhead turtle, a species protected under the EU Habitats Directive. It also affects the fishers who lose it: it is their essential working tool and every net that goes missing continues to deplete the fish stocks on which their livelihoods depend.

The LIFE OASIS project, coordinated by Spanish organisation Proyecto Alnitak , is tackling this on two fronts: tracking lost gear back to its source, using data gathered by a network of fishers and sailors, while developing a smarter, trackable alternative that is less likely to go missing in the first place.

A smarter way to fish

The project's business spin-off is transforming an existing Mediterranean fishing method, the AFAD (Anchored Fish Aggregating Device) fishery, by making devices considerably harder to lose. In this type of fishery, a float anchored to the seabed attracts fish, allowing fishers to harvest rather than search for fish, in a highly selective method with low bycatch. LIFE OASIS is fitting these floats with an echo sounder, so that fishers can check what is below before they even leave port. The floats are also fitted with GPS technology, allowing fishers to quickly locate and recover it if it breaks free. A deposit scheme also provides a financial incentive for fishers to return the devices at the end of their use.

Winning at the EU Green Week

Fishing and the blue economy rarely attract the attention of private investors making the Re:Invest in Nature pitching competition during EU Green Week a valuable opportunity for LIFE OASIS. Selected from more than 80 applying start-ups, LIFE OASIS was one of four category winners, taking first place in the Nature Intelligence and Measurement category.

The Re: Invest in Nature event, brought together innovative nature-based projects and investors to help promising solutions gain visibility, build partnerships and attract the investment needed to bring them to market.

"In the run-up to the event, the C2M team supported us a lot with the pitch preparation. The improvement was obvious, not only for us, but also for the other projects participating in the competition. We had also joint preparation calls where each project pitched, and you could really see everyone's progress," says Alice Schröder, economic expert responsible for developing the Business Model for the intelligent fishing system of LIFE OASIS.

The event opened the door to discussions with several investors, around ten of whom remain in contact with the team. The spin-off is now seeking €2.1 million in blended finance, a mix of public and private funding, to complete its first production run and launch commercially in Mallorca (Spain) and in Malta for the 2028 fishing season. Sea trials of the first prototype have already been completed, while development of a second prototype is underway.

The impact of LIFE and C2M support

LIFE funding supported the early research and technology development that laid the foundations for LIFE OASIS. The LIFE close-to-market support then helped translate those results into a compelling investment proposition through tailored business coaching and pitching training.

"The LIFE C2M team was a key partner throughout LIFE OASIS' journey. Its support before and during the Re:Invest in Nature pitching event gave us valuable exposure to investors and the market at a pivotal moment, just as we were launching our next funding round," Schröder says.

Learn more about the LIFE OASIS project in our project fiche.

LIFE OASIS contributes to the implementation of several key EU environmental and fisheries policies, including: EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Common Fisheries Policy.

How LIFE helps close-to-market projects

LIFE close-to-market initiative supports LIFE beneficiaries in bringing their innovative green solutions to market. Beneficiaries have access to a dedicated support team with extensive experience offering business coaching, advisory on business strategy development, pitching training and access to expert networks, among other services to help prepare their innovations for commercialisation and investment. Looking for support to develop your clean-tech solution and bring it to market? Check out the LIFE close-to-marketwebpage.