Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been left behind, lost, or thrown away in the ocean, lakes, and rivers. These nets, which are hard to see in the dark water, may become tangled on rocky reefs or float freely in the open sea. They can trap fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and other animals, as well as human divers. As they are designed to do, the nets stop these creatures from moving, leading to starvation, cuts, infections, and suffocation for those that must return to the surface to breathe. Experts say about 48 million tons of lost fishing gear are created each year, not counting nets that were abandoned or thrown away. These nets can stay in the ocean for a long time before breaking apart.

Description

Some commercial fishermen use gillnets. These nets are kept floating in the sea by objects like glass floats, which are attached along one edge. This allows the nets to form a tall wall that is hundreds of meters long. Fish of a certain size can become trapped in the net. Usually, fishermen collect the nets and remove the fish.

If this is not done, the net may continue to catch fish until the weight of the fish becomes too heavy for the floats to hold up. The net then sinks, and the fish are eaten by animals that live on the ocean floor. The floats then pull the net back to the surface, and the cycle repeats. Because modern nets are made of strong synthetic materials, this process can continue for a long time.

The problem includes more than just nets. It also involves "ghost gear," which refers to fishing equipment that is no longer being used. For example, old crab traps that lack a required "rot-out panel" can remain on the ocean floor. These traps act as self-baiting devices and can trap marine life for many years. Even tangled fishing lines can harm animals like birds and marine mammals. Over time, nets and traps become more tangled, making it less likely for fish to become trapped in them.

Fishermen sometimes leave old nets behind because it is often the easiest way to dispose of them.

In 1980 and 1981, the French government offered a reward for people who handed in ghost nets to local coastguards along parts of the Normandy coast. The program was stopped when some people damaged nets to claim the reward without actually retrieving any nets from the shore or ocean.

In September 2015, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) was started by World Animal Protection to give more attention to the issue of ghost gear.

The term ALDFG stands for "abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear."

Environmental impact

From 2000 to 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported that an average of 11 large whales became entangled in ghost nets each year along the U.S. west coast. Between 2002 and 2010, 870 nets were found in Washington state, with more than 32,000 marine animals trapped inside. Ghost gear is estimated to make up 10% (640,000 metric tons) of all marine litter.

About 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made of fishing-related plastics. Fishing nets account for about 1% of the total weight of all marine plastic pieces larger than 200 millimeters (7.9 inches), and plastic fishing gear overall makes up more than two-thirds of the total weight of such large plastics.

According to the SeaDoc Society, each ghost net can kill $20,000 worth of Dungeness crab over 10 years. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that ghost crab pots in the Chesapeake Bay alone catch 1.25 million blue crabs each year.

In May 2016, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) removed 10 metric tons of abandoned nets within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and Torres Strait protected zone. One protected turtle was rescued during this effort.

The northern Australian olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is a genetically distinct type of olive ridley sea turtle. Ghost nets threaten the survival of this northern Australian variety. Without action to protect this population, it could become extinct.

Researchers in Brazil used social media to study how ghost nets affect marine life. They collected videos from Google and YouTube showing ghost nets and analyzed them. Their findings showed that ghost nets harm many marine species, including large animals like the Bryde’s whale and Guiana dolphin.

Solutions

Biodegradable fishing nets break down naturally in water over time, unlike synthetic ones. Coconut fiber (coir) fishing nets are made commercially and offer a practical solution for fishermen.

To manage abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear at sea, legalizing gear retrievals and creating waste management systems are necessary. The company Net-works developed a method to turn old fishing nets into carpet tiles.

Between 2008 and 2015, the US Fishing for Energy initiative collected 2.8 million pounds of fishing gear. In partnership with Reworld, this gear was burned to produce enough electricity to power 182 homes for one year.

A retrieval project in Southwest Nova Scotia, Canada, completed 60 trips, searched about 1,523 square kilometers of the seafloor, and removed 7,064 kilograms of abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). This included 66% lobster traps and 22% dragger cable. Lost traps continued to trap animals, and 15 species were freed from the gear, including 239 lobsters (67% market-sized) and seven groundfish, some of which are at-risk species. Annual commercial losses from ALDFG in this area were estimated at $175,000 CAD.

In 2009, Dutch diver Pascal van Erp began recovering ghost fishing gear entangled on North Sea wrecks. His work inspired others, and volunteer teams later removed tons of ghost gear from the Netherlands coast. In 2012, Pascal founded the not-for-profit Ghost Fishing organization, which rebranded as the Ghost Diving Foundation in 2020.

In 2018, the European Parliament Fisheries Committee supported a plan to protect UK seas from ghost fishing. Mr. Flack, who led the committee, stated: "Abandoned fishing nets are polluting our seas, wasting fish stocks, and harming whales, sea lions, and dolphins. The tragedy of ghost fishing must end."

Programs like Fishing for Litter encourage the collection and proper disposal of old fishing gear, addressing the cost of disposal as a root cause of abandonment.

Fishing nets are often made from strong, high-quality plastics, making them valuable for recycling. Initiatives like Healthy Seas connect cleanup projects with manufacturers to reuse these materials. Recycled nets can be turned into yarn and products such as swimwear.

In Australia, the Carpentaria Ghost Nets Program works with Indigenous communities to raise awareness about ghost nets and develop long-term solutions. The program trains Indigenous people in northern Australia to locate and remove ghost nets and other plastic pollution.

Systems for tracking fishing gear, such as GPS, are being tested to improve accountability. Finding ghost nets at sea is difficult and requires significant resources. In 2024, a net-harvesting buoy was proposed as a solution. This passive system uses the speed difference between the buoy and drifting nets to catch them by entanglement. A wind-driven rotor on the buoy spins it, and once a net is caught, the buoy is tagged for collection. Many buoys are needed for this decentralized approach, allowing cleanup in multiple locations simultaneously. The concept is currently being evaluated.