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Fishing gear and plastic marine debris is a growing global problem. Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear – often referred to as “ghost gear” – can contribute up to 76% of all marine debris found during beach clean-ups.

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Estimates of the weight of abandoned fishing gear vary considerably depending on the region and the type of gear used. One study recovered 14 tonnes from the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In one fishing region of Nova Scotia, an estimated 22 tonnes of fishing gear remains at sea. Overall, approximately 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear are lost in the oceans each year around the world.

These abandoned fishing gears continue to capture fish, including commercially valuable and threatened species, as well as other species of marine life. For example, ghost gear – especially nets – are responsible for entangling seals and sea turtles. An abandoned fishing net in Puget Sound, Wash. Is expected to catch two invertebrates per day, one fish every three days, and a seabird every five days.

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It also costs fishermen. Ghost gear reduces catch rates and profits, is expensive to replace and can be dangerous, getting tangled in propellers and snarling anchors.

But a new project aims to get ghost gear out of the ocean and give the fishing industry a chance to be part of the solution.

Phantom Equipment Impacts

Ghost equipment can damage seabed habitats and decompose into microplastics. Wildlife can eat large pieces – and small ones – or become entangled in them. When the plastic linings of crab or lobster traps fragment over time, microplastic particles can be ingested by marine life, disrupting natural hormone production and endocrine function, causing shell disease and affecting the reproduction.

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Ghost gear creates an endless negative cycle of self-bait. The trapped animals die, attracting other scavengers, who suffer the same fate. This can have negative impacts on commercial fish populations.

For example, ghost gear caused an estimated US $ 21.3 million in economic losses to the blue crab fishery in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Gear losses are often unrecorded or unobserved, making it difficult to understand the specific causes of gear loss.

Research suggests that gear losses are the result of environmental conditions, gear conflicts between fishermen and other industries, poor gear condition, and improper disposal at sea.

Lost gear can be carried long distances by tides and currents, resulting in tangles (called grunts) that can be difficult to move and retrieve. Losses can be accidental, but inappropriate gear releases at sea also occur due to inefficient and inadequate solid waste management for end-of-life fishing gear.

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Ghost equipment in the Maritimes

Commercial lobster is the dominant and most valuable fishery in the Maritimes, with 3,000 license holders and exports valued at $ 2.1 billion in 2017, or one-third of Canada’s fishing exports.

The region is deeply linked to the fishing industry. Fishers and those working in related industries depend on healthy commercial fish stocks and habitat to support themselves.

Although fishermen retrieve gear when possible and return lost gear to other fishermen when they encounter it, some gear inevitably remains lost at sea. A recent study using images of the seabed estimates that 1 remains. , 8 million marine debris on the seabed of the Bay of Fundy, 28% of which is fishing debris. While the economic losses caused by ghost gear in the Maritimes are unknown, recycling recovered ghost gear can create lucrative economic opportunities.

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Management of phantom material

Given the scale of the problem, national and international policies and programs aimed at reducing sources of marine plastic pollution are on the rise, as are global movements to combat ghost gear, such as the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.

Since 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has implemented reporting requirements for lost and recovered gear in all groundfish and shrimp fisheries. However, existing license conditions prohibit retrieving gear outside of the prescribed fishing season if the gear does not belong to the fisherman who found it.

Despite this, DFO has supported more than two dozen programs valued at $ 8.3 million to reduce the amount of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, and implemented the Fishing Solutions Contribution Program. sustainable and recovery support.

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Coastal Action is running one of these projects in the Maritimes. Collaboration between industry, academia and government aims to prevent, reduce and assess the impacts of ghost gear in three lobster fishing areas on the south coast of Nova Scotia from 2020 to 2022.

Ten rope recycling bins will be installed at docks throughout the region and ghost equipment will be collected by fishermen from identified hot spot areas during 159 days at sea. A recent pilot study has collected more than three tonnes of rope in dockside recycling bins around the Bay of Fundy. The project will also conduct an impact assessment of ghost gear during recovery to determine impacts on marine life and estimate economic losses.

Sustane Technologies Inc. will recycle the recovered rope into diesel fuel. Innovative mapping technologies will be used in partnership with Dalhousie University and the Ocean Tracking Network. Ghost craft mapping will enhance the recovery process by using side scan sonar technology to create detailed seabed maps and identify where the lost craft have settled.

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Fishermen don’t want to lose gear and they recognize that ghost gear continues to harm marine life and affect their bottom line. Future ghost gear recovery programs help protect marine ecosystems and create economic opportunities for communities that depend on fragile marine resources.

Tony Robert Walker is Associate Professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Studies, Alexa Jillian Goodman is Research Assistant in the Maritime Affairs Program and Craig Brown is Associate Professor in the Department of Oceanography, all at the University. Dalhousie in Halifax. Ariel Smith of Coastal Action is co-author of this article. This article originally appeared online at theconversation.com, an independent source of information and opinions from the academic and research community.

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