Discarded fishing gear that floats in our oceans or gets snagged on the seabed (often called ghost gear or ghost nets) is a deadly trap for ocean creatures. But how much of a problem is ghost gear, and what can we do about it?
What is ghost gear?
Ghost gear is any fishing gear that is no longer under the control of the operator.
This includes abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear. Fishing equipment can get snagged on rocks or coral, be accidentally cut loose by other boats, or be swept away and lost during storms and extreme weather events. Fishing gear can also be intentionally discarded where no disposal facilities exist, or by fishers hiding evidence of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU).
How does ghost gear hurt marine life?
Ghost nets are one of the most lethal types of marine debris in our oceans, as they continue to catch and kill marine life, long after they are used by fishers.¹
Marine animals such as sea lions, turtles and seabirds can be tangled, strangled and choked by fishing lines and nets. Ghost nets of all sizes can also threaten coral reefs by breaking, snagging or shading corals, which impacts their growth.²³
Ghost nets can cause animals to become weighed down or unable to move, reducing their ability to catch prey and avoid predators. Fishing lines or nets can become wrapped around their throats or limbs, cutting into their skin. This leads to severe injury or even death by drowning.
What can be done to stop ghost nets?
The threat of ghost gear is a global problem, and we urgently need a global solution. AMCS is a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI), a collaboration between conservationists, governments and industry bodies which seeks to scale up solutions, drive fisheries reform and change policies – ensuring that lost or damaged fishing gear is recovered and brought back to shore, before it can hurt wildlife.
AMCS is also working to ensure marine debris and ghost gear is tackled as part of the Global Plastics Treaty. In Australia, many fishing fleets are working to address the problem. Globally, we are fighting to ensure that human activities are strictly assessed and properly managed, so that issues like lost fishing gear are considered when allowing fisheries to operate in international waters.
References:
- Wilcox, C. et al. (2016). Using expert elicitation to estimate the impacts of plastic pollution on marine wildlife. In Marine Policy (65). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2015.10.014
- Suka, R., Huntington, B., Morioka, J., O’Brien, K., & Acoba, T. (2020). Successful application of a novel technique to quantify negative impacts of derelict fishing nets on Northwestern Hawaiian Island reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 157, 111312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111312
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Impacts of ghost nets on coral reefs. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/impacts-ghost-nets-coral-reefs