Guidance to mitigate lost fishing gear launched

On the occasion of the World Ocean Day, on June 8th, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative issued the second part of its study, entitled “Best Practices Framework for the Management of Fishing Gear”, providing practical guidance to decrease the abundance and effects of ghost gear within the shipping industry.

Ghost gear, also called “abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear”(ALDFG), is any fishing equipment or fishing-related litter that has been abandoned or lost in the ocean environment. Each year an estimated 640,000 tons of fishing gear is lost or abandoned in oceans, estuaries, and bays. The consequences of ALDFG, both environmental and economic, are the following:

• Continued catch of target and non-target species. Even when not controlled by fishers, fishing gear can continue to catch fish dependent on the gear’s state when control is lost. Although most gear loses fishing efficiency over time as it disintegrates or becomes incorporated into the bottom sediment, it may continue to fish for many years. Abandoned traps may continue to entrap fish which in turn attract scavengers. This then results in cyclical catching by the fishing gear.
• Interactions with marine wildlife. ALDFG, especially when made of persistent synthetic material, can cause marine fauna such as sea birds, turtles, seals and cetaceans pain and suffering after entanglement and also if they ingest it.
• Physical impacts on the benthos. Abandoned, lost or discarded net fragments, eg gillnet or trawl panels, may get dragged along the bottom by strong currents and winds harming fragile organisms like sponges and corals. Nylon line from both commercial and recreational hook and lines and longlines may entangle around both marine animals and habitats, especially in complex inshore habitats such as reefs. And litter accumulating in offshore sinks may smother of benthic communities on soft and hard seabed substrates.
• Introduction of synthetic material into the marine food web. Modern plastics can last up to 600 years in the marine environment. This depends upon water conditions, ultraviolet light penetration and the level of physical abrasion. Much of the abraded material exists for many years as microscopic plastic fragments and fibres. These can join the food chain and may adsorb, release or transport chemicals and their toxic effects.
• ALDFG also results in both economic and social costs that can be significant. When ALDFG fouls the marine environment, the socio-economic costs such as clean-up costs and gear removal can be significant. It is difficult to rate or compare the magnitude of the wide range of socio-economic costs. This is because literature is very scarce and there are particular problems in quantifying and comparing costs across different stakeholders. Estimating the costs associated with compliance, rescue, and/or research costs associated with ALDFG is complex, and does not seem to have been attempted to date.
• ALDFG can act as a navigation hazard. Ropes and nylon line can foul propellers, drive shafts, jet drives and water intakes, affecting a vessel’s propulsion and ability to manoeuvre. This can lead to operational delays and in extreme cases, injury and loss of life.

As part of its proposed framework, the GGGI notes that interventions can be broadly divided between measures that:

1. prevent (avoiding the occurrence of ALDFG in the environment)
2. mitigate (reducing the impact of ALDFG in the environment)
3. cure (removing ALDFG from the environment).

Detailed information may be found in the following report: