A campaign to eliminate randomly discarded fishing equipment from Turkish seas helped save some 1.7 million marine creatures so far, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Wednesday. The campaign, run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, particularly targets so-called "ghost nets" or material left by fishermen under the sea.

Ghost nets threaten both marine life and pollute bodies of water, often remaining there for years. They function as a kind of predator for fish and other species, disrupting their habitat and the environment where they feed. Indirectly, they can even change the migration patterns of marine life and worse, speed up the extinction of endangered species. Studies show some 309 marine organisms die in every 100 meters of ghost net after becoming stuck, dealing a blow to biodiversity.

The campaign to clean up ghost nets covers most regions in Türkiye, from the coasts of Hatay, Antalya, Adana, Mersin, Muğla in the south, Izmir, Aydın, Balıkesir, Tekirdağ, Çanakkale, Bursa in the west, Istanbul, Yalova, Kocaeli, Sakarya and Sinop. Landlocked places like the capital Ankara and the cities of Konya and Isparta are also included in the campaign where lakes and other bodies of water are combed. This year, more provinces will be included in the campaign which combed an area of about 96 million square meters so far. Some 546,000 square meters of nets were cleared and partially recycled.