Saving Seafood

New law targets ‘ghost fishing’ by old gear. How discarded traps and nets are harmful

December 26, 2024 — Abandoned fishing gear has posed problems for authorities wishing to clear it from state waters and shorelines for decades, but new legislation is aimed at making that task easier.

An amendment by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, to an existing statute will speed the process of removing the environmentally harmful debris.

“Left unchecked, abandoned fishing gear poses several threats to our marine environment and ecosystems,” Tarr stated in a press release.

One of the problems it creates, he said, is “ghost fishing.”

According to the NOAA Marine Debris Program, “Ghost fishing occurs when lost or discarded fishing gear that is no longer under a fisherman’s control continues to trap and kill target species like fish and crustaceans, and non-target species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Derelict fishing nets and traps can continue to ghost-fish for years once they are lost under the water’s surface. Storms, ship traffic, and interactions with other types of fishing gear are the primary mechanisms for gear loss, resulting in an estimated 1% to 5% annual rate of gear loss in the Massachusetts lobster fishery. In Cape Cod Bay, derelict lobster traps are estimated to kill 12,500 to 33,000 lobsters per year. By removing derelict fishing gear, ghost fishing can be reduced.”

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

These divers are trying to make a dent in Maine’s ‘ghost gear’ problem, one abandoned trap at a time

October 30, 2024 — There’s a chill in the air on this overcast morning in late September, as Buzz Scott steers his boat, the “Hurry Sundown,” out of a Rockland marina and toward the granite breakwater that protects the harbor.

He points to small specks displayed on the vessel’s navigation system. They’re abandoned fishing traps sitting on the ocean floor. Scientists estimate there are millions of them littering the bottom of the Gulf of Maine.

The plastic-coated wire traps are torn loose from their buoy lines in storms or accidentally cut off by propellers in high-traffic areas and collect at the bottom of Maine’s many coves and harbors.

“I think right in here is going to be a gold mine,” Scott said. “There’s one every ten feet it looks like on the sonar.”

Scott’s nonprofit, OceansWide, has been training scuba divers to recover derelict, or “ghost gear,” from the seafloor. They’ve primarily been diving in Boothbay Harbor but are in Rockland for the first time.

Scott tosses a buoy with a small orange flag into the water to mark their dive spot.

Read the full article at Maine Public

Second UN session negotiating global plastic pollution treaty emphasizes ghost gear

August 2, 2023 — The second of five planned meetings hosted by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to discuss global plastic pollution ended with greater emphasis and discussion on marine debris, including abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) – also known as ghost gear.

The INC sessions aim to negotiate an international, legally binding plastics treaty, as global plastics pollution – including ALDFG throughout the world’s oceans and microplastics now found in such remote places as Mount Everest – has continued to proliferate mostly unabated on an international level.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lost fishing gear represents up to 75 percent of plastic found on coral reefs

July 20, 2022 — Lost and discarded fishing “ghost gear” accounted for as much as 75 percent of plastic pollution found on the world’s coral reefs, according to a study, “Plastic pollution on the world’s coral reefs,” published 12 July in Nature.

Every one of the 85 coral reefs included in the global study was found polluted with plastic, including deeper reefs between 30 and 150 meters deep. Comoros was found to have the most-polluted reefs, with nearly 84,500 plastic items found per square kilometer, while the Marshall Islands had the least-polluted reefs at 580 pieces of plastic per square kilometer.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

What’s the solution to ghost fishing gear polluting oceans?

January 31, 2023 — Industrial fishing has been in hot water with the public for the last few years, with popular documentaries and exposés pointing out the devastating impacts of poor stewardship on the ocean. This outrage isn’t unfounded: In addition to their role in overfishing, industrial fishing fleets leave a huge amount of waste in the ocean, including damaged or lost fishing gear that boats leave behind in their rush to fish. The lost gear clutters the oceans, making them less hospitable to life, and more problematic for other fishermen to use. This so-called “ghost gear” can be found anywhere that fishing boats operate and can drift to other areas. In places where spiraling currents push debris together, it is especially prevalent. Between Hawai’i and California, in a stretch of water known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, much of the metric tonnage of plastic is comprised of ghost fishing gear. But it doesn’t have to be this way; there are potential solutions that could dramatically reduce the amount of abandoned gear in the oceans, keeping plastic out of food webs and reducing the overall burden of the fishing industry on marine pollution.

New research estimates that nearly 2% of all fishing gear is lost annually. This might not sound like much, but it adds up to 25 million pots and traps, along with 78,000 square kilometers of nets. This gear poses a serious threat to ocean wildlife, which get entangled in gear or consume plastic pieces as gear breaks down. Meanwhile, broken-down plastic eventually becomes tiny microplastic particles, which are increasingly ubiquitous in marine food chains and cause serious health issues for fish and other wildlife, as well as potential harm to the people who eat them.

That gear also has a direct human cost, especially for smaller fishermen who are trying to be good stewards of the ocean: For small boats, ghost gear can affect vessels’ propulsion and ability to maneuver, ultimately making sustainable fishing even more difficult. Jon Russell, Food Justice Organizer at the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA), maintains that gear losses are less common when fishermen are careful, and says that in smaller fishing communities, there’s still a sense of pride in doing things the right way. While larger operations can afford to bear the brunt of gear losses financially and operationally, smaller fishers often can’t. But these small fishing communities are still impacted when commercial fleets set their traps down haphazardly. “Then it creates this culture: ‘Well, if they’re not going to do it right, we’re not going to do it right’ and it just gets really toxic really fast,” he says.

When gear is left on the fishing ground by larger boats, it can severely impact the daily routine of other fishermen, particularly smaller operations. “If it’s going to interfere with our daily routine, we cannot maximize our catch,” says Captain Charlie Abner, who is a small boat fisherman and shrimper in the Southeast U.S. “You lose a whole day of fishing because you’ve got to redo your rigs. You’ve got to untangle this, you’ve got to untangle that. So, it’s not easy.”

Read the full article at Salon

2022 Ghost Gear Removal Competition reveals extent of fishing’s contribution to marine plastic pollution

December 7, 2022 — A ghost gear removal competition, hosted by the Azores tuna fishery, has resulted in a plastic-neutral status for the islands’ pole-and-line fishery for the 2022 fishing season.

The competition picked up 735 kilograms of marine litter, with 620.65 kilograms of that total being fishing gear, according to the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF). Ghost gear is fishing gear that has been abandoned, lost, or discarded at sea that entrap animals, snag on sensitive habitats, spread disease, and contribute to an invasion of alien species.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Smart buoys offer hope for reducing environmental and economic damage caused by lost fishing gear

September 28, 2021 — Lost fishing gear — be it nets, lines or pots — continues “ghost fishing” forever, causing a slow death for countless marine creatures and financial losses to fishermen.

Now new “smart buoys” can track and monitor all types of deployed gear and report its location directly to a cellphone or website.

Blue Ocean Gear of California created and builds buoys that also can track ocean temperatures, depth, movement, even how much has been caught. The small, 3-pound buoys are just 7 inches in diameter, don’t require special training to use and are tough enough to handle the harshest ocean conditions.

“All the information is collected in a database,” said Kortney Opshaug, company founder and CEO. “We have both a mobile app that you can access from your phone or a web interface that allows you to see more of the data, charts and things like that. Most of the buoys have satellite transmission, but some also have radio transmission and we’re working more and more with that. They’re slightly more cost effective, and we can create networks out on the water that are talking to one another.”

Opshaug and her Silicon Valley team of engineers and product developers were motivated primarily by the impacts of lost gear on the marine environment and the costs to fishermen.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

HAWAII: Marine debris team joins the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project to remove fishing nets from coral reefs

August 30, 2021 — NOAA and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project partner to remove derelict fishing nets from coral reefs across the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

Scientists and divers from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center are teaming up with divers from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project for a 30-day mission to remove marine debris from the islands and atolls within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

The team departed Honolulu on the M/V Imua on Tuesday. We expect the ship to return with more than 110,000 pounds of derelict fishing gear and other marine debris at the end of September.

The 2021 marine debris removal mission will focus on surveying for and removing marine debris from coral reefs and coastal environments. They will be working on Kamole (Laysan Island), Kamokuokamohoali‘i (Maro Reef), Kapou (Lisianski Island), Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), Holaniku (Kure Atoll), and Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll).

Read the full story at KITV

MAINE: Maritime Shorts: Ghost gear, Marine Patrol, road map plans

August 18, 2021 — A study in southwest Nova Scotia estimated that abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear, also known as ghost gear, account for more than $175,000 Canadian dollars in commercial losses annually.  

A team of researchers conducted 60 trips to retrieve the gear in one of Canada’s most productive lobster fishing regions and removed 7,064 kilograms of ghost gear – two-thirds of which were lobster traps. Those traps continued to capture species and the scientists found 239 lobsters and seven groundfish in the study. Buoys, rope and dragger cable were also retrieved and were either disposed of or repurposed. 

Most of the traps were believed to be less than 4 years old, though the oldest found was from 1987. Based on their markings, some of the debris likely originated from the U.S., likely traveling northward from the southern Gulf of Maine, according to the study. Tires, party balloons and a fan belt were also recovered.  

“While fishers often attempt to retrieve gear when it becomes lost during the fishing season, regular retrieval is challenging due to regulatory requirements, relocation issues, and lack of resources,” the study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin last month read. “Thus, allowing (abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear) to persist, potentially continues to indiscriminately catch commercially valuable lobsters and other species and contributes to the growing problem of marine debris.” 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Global Ghost Gear Initiative report provides recommendations for government action

August 11, 2021 — A new report has foundthe best way to reduce the impact of lost fishing gear is to enforce existing rules.

The report, “Ghost Gear Legislation Analysis,” was jointly written bythe World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ocean Outcomes, and Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). It assesses existing government legislation and policies addressing ghost gear and provides recommendations to governments to strengthen existing efforts and other actions to address lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing gear.

Read the full story at Seafood Source