Abandoned fishing gear and nets are the most common and also the most lethal forms of plastic in our ocean.
In a phenomenon known as ‘ghost fishing’, the entangled and trapped marine life will attract more species, resulting in an ongoing loop of catches . As these discarded nets are produced from plastic, they will not degrade, persisting in the ocean to catch and kill marine life indefinitely.
We founded Waterhaul as frustrated marine conservationists – every winter our beaches were inundated with ghost gear and we were finding lines and offcuts daily. Our pile of collected nets grew and grew (as did our neighbours disapproval of the smell) which motivated us towards a solution. We developed a mechanical recycling solution to process various forms of end-of-life fishing gear, and produced our first pair of sunglasses in 2018.
The properties which make ghost gear such a threat in our oceans; the size and abundance of net, the quality of the high-strength polymers used, and the urgency to remove the plastic from harms way, all make fishing nets a desirable recycling resource. And as we suspected, fishing nets durable enough to last 500 years in ocean make for super-strong sunglasses frames.
We utilise the strongest form of plastic in our oceans to produce exceptionally sustainable, recycled eyewear. Eyewear that meets the technical demands of adventure, ocean-exposure and UV protection, but also act as ‘symbols of change’ for our oceans. Waterhaul sunglasses frames last you a lifetime, because they are made from nets that would last decades in the ocean.
We’re passionate about combining adventure with purpose – action on the ocean, for the oceans. Our eyewear is designed to meet the demands of this environment and enhance your experience whilst symbolising and hopefully inspiring marine conservation.
Creating that value transformation, from waste to resource, is what we have been doing at Waterhaul for the past 6 years. We’ve created £2.4m in revenue to date, all from this harmful marine ‘waste’ through a range of purposeful and compelling products that embody our story, unites our community, and deliver true circular sustainable products, selling these both B2B and direct-to consumer.
However, last year Waterhaul achieved a major breakthrough in our recycling R&D, resulting in a new scalable process for recycling the UK’s waste fishing and aquaculture gear – an exponential leap from our previous capacity. This milestone enables us to scale our impact significantly, and begin addressing the vast scale of the challenge (up to 10,000 tonnes) and opportunity of waste fishing gear in the UK.
As a result, in 2025 we’re evolving our business model to focus on selling our unique Traceable Marine Plastic™ material alongside our mission-aligned products. This approach diversifies our business, strengthens our revenue streams, and aligns more effectively with the scale of our environmental mission.
Now, in light of unlocking this supply, an innovative process, strong expansion and funding opportunities in Scotland, and with demand from both brands and distributors we have opened up a small extension of our previous investment round to provide immediate support to maximise this opportunity, further scale this process and ensure smooth cashflow during this critical growth phase driven by Traceable Marine Plastic™.
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