In 2015, Madeleine and Benjamin, the founding team of Bracenet, traveled with their backpacks to their annual vacation in Tanzania and Zanzibar. While diving, they soon discovered pieces of old fishing nets everywhere and thus became acquainted with ghost nets for the first time. The two could not stand by and do nothing and began to collect the nets. Lost in thought, they eventually put a piece around each wrist - and saw a bracelet in front of them. The idea of ​​Bracenet was born! You can read the entire founding story of Bracenet here.

Ghost nets are old, lost or intentionally sunk fishing nets. They float through our oceans and pose a major threat to ecosystems, killing countless marine animals and taking 400-600 years to decompose. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch alone is made up of 46% of these nets, and up to 1 million tons more of these nets end up in our oceans every year. Find out more!

We want to save our oceans! That's why we regularly donate to protect the seas and marine animals. To date, we have transferred over €250,000 to our partner organizations and many other great projects. Thank you for being part of our mission and donating with us!

The majority of our donations go to Healthy Seas. This organization saves marine animals and ecosystems by recovering ghost nets from the oceans and giving them new life. We have worked closely with them since 2016 and receive many of their recovered ghost nets. Our donations fund recovery missions, boat rentals, hazard training, diving equipment and preventive measures, among other things. Find out more about Healthy Seas here.

With many of our products we also support specific organizations and projects, such as Sea Shepherd, Shark Allies and many more. You can find further information on the respective product pages.

Healthy Seas saves marine animals and ecosystems by recovering ghost nets from the oceans and giving them new life. We have worked closely with them since 2016 and receive many of their recovered ghost nets. We regularly donate to Healthy Seas to enable further recovery missions and preventive measures - so far over €150,000 (as of 05/22). Find out more.

Ghost Diving is the world's leading organization for recovering ghost nets. The association of 250 volunteer divers worldwide works closely with Healthy Seas and recovers nets from depths of up to 50 meters. Our donations to Healthy Seas also directly benefit their work, as they finance, for example, boat rental fees, hazard training and diving equipment. Find out more.

Nofir is a pioneer in the recycling of fishing equipment. The company collects old and discarded equipment across Europe and beyond - such as the nets from Healthy Seas and Ghost Diving - to sort and clean them and prepare them for recycling. Nofir passes the nets that are in good condition on to us for upcycling. Find out more.

We work closely with Healthy Seas, Ghost Diving and Nofir to remove ghost nets from the sea. Healthy Seas navigates recovery missions with Ghost Diving's 250 volunteer, specially trained divers worldwide. They remove the ghost nets from wrecks and reefs at depths of up to 50 meters and bring them to land. The nets then come to Nofir, where they are sorted and cleaned using only water in an environmentally friendly way. Nofir also collects discarded nets directly from fisheries so that they don't end up in the sea in the first place.

The ghost nets and discarded fishing nets ultimately come to us from Nofir. We now also receive nets from many other sources, for example from NGOs such as the Ocean Voyages Institute, the Mare Foundation and the WWF, which actively recover ghost nets. Some fisheries also send us their discarded nets directly so that they don't end up in the sea in the first place. Anyone who finds parts of the nets on the beach can always send them to us, as we are happy to process as many nets as possible: go to the form.

It's great that you collected the washed-up nets! Please send us some information about the nets you found. We will then contact you to discuss what we should do with them. Go to the form.

We manufacture all of our upcycling products lovingly and elaborately by hand in Germany and Portugal from former fishing nets.

Our prices are based on our high and sustainable standards for our products as well as our regular donations. We develop, manufacture and package each individual product by hand with great care and pay our employees fairly for this time-consuming but important service. Last but not least, our mission is at the heart of our work: We fight to protect the oceans. This only works thanks to the great, voluntary work of the divers from Healthy Seas and Ghost Diving. We support this important task on the water as well as their educational and prevention work on land with regular donations.

Become part of our mission and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about new colors and products! As a welcome gift, you will receive a voucher code for 10% off your first order. Scroll all the way down to find the registration form.

Your question wasn't answered? Then please contact Melanie from our Customer Happiness team! She looks forward to speaking with you and will help you as quickly as possible.

How to reach us:

Phone: 040 76485563

(Mon.–Fri. from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)

E-Mail: hello@bracenet.net