© Fiber Society 2022 Spring Conference - Fibers for a Greener Society: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications. All rights reserved.The settlement of marine fouling organisms onto man-made structures is considered as one of the biggest problems due to the effects of these organisms on the functions of the structures. Fishnet is one of very practical tools in the fisheries industry and most of fishnets are made of polyamide-6, polyethylene etc. which are easily covered by the fouling organisms. The adhesion of fouling organisms can do much harm to the marine culture and bring about much trouble to the fishers. Antifouling is the ability of specifically designed materials and coatings to prevent biofouling by any number of organisms on wetted surfaces. Since biofouling can occur almost anywhere water is present, biofouling poses risks to a wide variety of objects. In modern times, antifouling paints are formulated with cuprous oxide (or other copper compounds) and/or other biocides-special chemicals which impede growth of barnacles, algae and marine organisms. However, it is clear that paints containing copper oxide have a good antifouling effect but also harmful for the environment in ecological sense. Thus, various efforts have so far been made in order to create new antifouling methods as potential alternatives. A relatively recent method, which involves the microencapsulation technology of biocidal agents, gives us eco-friendly solution for this purpose. In our previous studies the antifouling effect of the capsules on the ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fishing nets was investigated and successful results were obtained. In this study, it was aimed to take advantage of the slow and sustained release of microencapsulation technology. For this purpose, econea (4-bromo-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile) was encapsulated with spray dryer method and impregnated to the polyamide fishing nets with two different binders as polyurethane and acrylic for gaining antifouling properties to fishing nets. On the other hand, microcapsule transferred fishing nets were compared with a commercial copper oxide-based paint. Subsequently, the field work was carried out for the capsules transferred fishing nets for 1 month in the Aegean Sea in Turkey. The micro and macro-organisms that settled on the fishing nets were identified after seawater immersion. The strength, weight and pore size analysis of fishing nets were performed before and after the field work. According to results, the surfaces of the fishing nets which impregnated microcapsules were remarkably cleaner and it was determined that microencapsulation technology gives antifouling properties to fishing nets. In conclusion, slightly dissolving versions of studied eco-friendly microcapsules could be an alternative for copper based antifouling biocides and paints.