During the ‘Our Ocean 2018’ conference in Bali, Nestlé and Tesco joined the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) to address the 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear, also known as ghost gear, ending up in the oceans every year.
The Global Ghost Gear Initiative is dedicated to tackling the problem of ghost fishing gear worldwide. Ghost gear is abandoned, lost and discarded fishing nets, lines and traps which can persist in the environment for up to 600 years.
GGGI also announced a raft of commitments to tackle ghost gear at scale:
- The GGGI will support 30 projects addressing ghost gear in 15 countries by 2025 where the need is the greatest;
- The GGGI is pledging to double the financial commitment from its members, supporting organisations and governments to USD $2 million in 2019 to ensure the effective scaling of projects aimed at addressing and preventing the problem of ghost gear, especially in developing countries;
- The GGGI will also work with three market leading certifications schemes, all 13 GGGI signatory countries and UN FAO to implement best practice management of fishing gear by 2021 including the uptake of the recently adopted UN FAO Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear.
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Overall, the GGGI aspires to establish baselines and contribute to achieve a net reduction of ghost gear in the oceans on an annual basis by 2030.
An estimated 5 to 30% of the decline in some fish stocks can be attributed to ‘ghost gear.’ When lost, this gear can cause suffering for marine animals that can get caught in it. Seven out of ten entanglements involve plastic ghost gear.
The GGGI has 91-members organisations. From January 2019 onwards, Ocean Conservancy (OC) will become the GGGI’s new lead partner organisation.