Global Coordinator: Pascal van Erp
If you’re interested in diving and marine conservation, you’ve probably heard his name before. Pascal is a CCR/technical diver specialized in marine pollution and is active worldwide. With activism running through his veins, he has been cleaning up fishing gear since 2007 and dedicated his diving exclusively to the protection of the environment. In order to encourage divers to cleanup the underwater environment and at the same time increase diving safety, he founded the Ghost Diving organization in 2012. His team-oriented and standardized approach to conservation diving quickly spread throughout the technical diving industry. Besides he is also active as a DAN Europe ambassador.
After working as a technical engineer at Greenpeace, he moved his professional career to the Healthy Seas Foundation, where he is responsible for the day-to-day management and all diving and fishing related projects since their launch in 2013. His work within Ghost Diving Foundation has remained voluntary unchanged. Pascal has numerous working relationships with other non-profit environmental organizations, many of which he collaborates within the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.
Due to his work and long-standing commitment to protecting the oceans and seas from the phenomenon of “ghost fishing”, Pascal’s name has become associated with this global environmental problem and is often invited to speak as an expert in various forums and public discussions. He has led numerous research and clean-up projects for lost fishing gear in the North Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Caspian Sea and Baltic Sea, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, Vema Seamount and Scapa Flow.