Of Ghost Nets and the Haunting at Nissum Bredning

Authors

Abstract

This article investigates the phenomena of “ghost nets”—fishing gear that has been abandoned or discarded. Starting in 2019 at Nissum Bredning in the western part of Limfjorden, Denmark, the article follows the NGO “the Danish Society for a Living Sea” and their efforts to engage with the issue. The article seeks to understand how ghost nets are tied to local haunting dynamics, namely the dismal ecological state of Nissum Bredning, and how the NGO brought it into national attention through activist approaches.

Author Biography

Sebastian Lundsteen

Sebastian Lundsteen is a PhD fellow in environmental history at the University of Stavanger/The Greenhouse. His project, titled “Submergence: Environmental Justice and the Specter of Exposure to Chemical Pollution” investigates the ubiquitous and ambivalent state of a submerged chemical depot located on the western coastline in Denmark. “Submergence” addresses the invisible and slow attritional violence when a community is continually exposed to hazardous pollution and environmental damage. Furthermore, the project explores themes such as knowledge, justice, and exclusion in the context of a Scandinavian welfare state.

Photo of bags of ghost nets.

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Published

2023-03-08

Issue

2022

Section

Spring

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Sebastian Lundsteen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.