Ghost nets are fishing nets that are left behind in oceans, lakes, and rivers. These nets are often hard to see in dark areas and may be stuck on rocky reefs or floating in the open water. They can trap fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and other animals, as well as human divers. When they work as they were made to, the nets prevent movement, leading to starvation, injuries, infections, and suffocation for animals that need to come to the surface to breathe. Experts estimate that about 48 million tons of lost fishing gear are created each year, not counting nets that were abandoned or thrown away. These nets can remain in the ocean for a long time before breaking apart.

Description

Some commercial fishermen use gillnets. These nets are held up in the water by floating objects, like glass floats, on one side. This allows the nets to form a tall wall hundreds of meters long, where fish of a certain size can be caught. Usually, fishermen collect the nets and remove the fish.

If the nets are not collected, they can keep catching fish until the weight of the fish becomes too heavy for the floats to hold up. Then the nets sink, and the fish are eaten by animals that live on the ocean floor. After this, the floats pull the nets back up, 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," such as old crab traps that lack a special "rot-out panel." These traps remain on the ocean floor and act as traps that can catch marine life for many years. Even tangled fishing lines can harm animals like birds and sea mammals. Over time, nets become more tangled, and fish are less likely to get caught in gear that has been left in the ocean for a long time.

Sometimes, fishermen leave old nets behind because it is the easiest way to get rid of them.

In 1980 and 1981, the French government gave rewards for ghost nets handed to local coastguards along parts of the Normandy coast. The program ended when people damaged nets to claim rewards without 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 this issue.

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 tonnes) of all marine litter.

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

According to the SeaDoc Society, each ghost net causes the loss of $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) recovered 10 tonnes 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 variation of the 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 the effects of ghost nets on marine life. They analyzed videos of ghost nets found on Google and YouTube. The study 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 after some time, unlike synthetic nets that do not decompose. Coconut fiber (coir) fishing nets are made commercially and offer a practical option for fishermen to use.

To manage abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear in the ocean, legal actions to retrieve gear and waste management systems must be put in place. A company called Net-works created a solution to turn old fishing nets into carpet tiles.

Between 2008 and 2015, the US Fishing for Energy program 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 fishing gear. This included 66% lobster traps and 22% dragger cable. Lost traps continued to trap fish and other sea life. A total of 15 species were freed from the gear, including 239 lobsters (67% of which were large enough to sell) and seven groundfish (including five species at risk). Annual commercial losses from this gear in the area were estimated at $175,000 CAD.

In 2009, Dutch diver Pascal van Erp began recovering ghost fishing gear tangled on North Sea shipwrecks. His work inspired others, and teams of volunteer divers later removed tons of ghost gear from the Netherlands coast. After one season of diving, 22 tons of fishing gear were sent to the Aquafil Group to be recycled into new nylon material. In 2012, Pascal founded the not-for-profit Ghost Fishing organization. In 2020, the group changed its name to the Ghost Diving Foundation.

In 2018, the European Parliament Fisheries Committee supported a plan to protect UK seas from ghost fishing. Mr. Flack, who led the committee, stated that abandoned nets harm the ocean, waste fish stocks, and kill marine animals like whales, sea lions, and dolphins. He said the problem of ghost fishing must end.

Programs like Fishing for Litter encourage people to collect and properly dispose of old fishing gear. These programs help reduce gear abandonment by addressing the cost of disposal.

Fishing nets are often made from strong, high-quality plastics, making them valuable for recycling. Initiatives like Healthy Seas connect cleanup efforts 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 find long-term solutions. The program trains Indigenous people in northern Australia to search for and remove ghost nets and other plastic pollution.

New technology, such as GPS tracking, is being tested to help mark and monitor fishing gear, increasing accountability and transparency.

Finding ghost nets floating on the ocean surface is difficult and requires a lot of resources. In 2024, a net-harvesting buoy was proposed as a solution. This system uses the difference in speed between the buoy and drifting nets to catch them. The buoy’s arms entangle the nets, wrapping them around it.

Wind-powered rotation, using a Savonius turbine or vertical-axis rotor, moves the buoy. Once a net is caught, the buoy is tagged for collection. Many buoys are needed for this decentralized approach, which allows ocean cleaning to happen in multiple locations at the same time. The idea is still being evaluated.