Ghost Gear Report - 14

Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear, commonly called ghost gear, is an inevitable
by-product of global fisheries that most of us never see or consider. Even fishers who spend their
lives on the water rarely grasp the full harmful impacts of fishing gear that is lost during each
season. But the harmful impacts of ghost gear are significant and, though the problem has been
understood for decades, we are only in the last few years understanding its breadth and scale.

HOW MUCH FISHING GEAR
BECOMES GHOST GEAR?
Extrapolated from land-based sources, at least 10% of marine litter is estimated to be
made up of fishing waste, which means that between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes
of fishing gear are likely entering the oceans every year27,28.

Many attempts to quantify the problem locally, regionally, and globally give us a
convincing picture of the enormity of the problem. Studies have documented:
● 11,436 tonnes of traps and 38,535 tonnes of gillnets abandoned every year in
South Korean waters29 .
● An estimated 160,000 blue crab traps lost annually in the Chesapeake Bay
between 2004 and 200830.
● Over 70km of gillnets lost in Canada's Greenland Halibut fishery in just five
years31
● An estimated 5,500-10,000 gillnet pieces lost in the Baltic Sea annually
between 2005 and 200832.
● 5% (>1300 in 2016-2017) of the 30,000 drifting FADs deployed each year in
the Western Central Pacific Ocean abandoned and washed up onto nearshore
habitats each year33 .

© shutterstock/ Andi111

14



Ghost Gear Report

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ghost Gear Report

Contents
Ghost Gear Report - 1
Ghost Gear Report - 2
Ghost Gear Report - Contents
Ghost Gear Report - 4
Ghost Gear Report - 5
Ghost Gear Report - 6
Ghost Gear Report - 7
Ghost Gear Report - 8
Ghost Gear Report - 9
Ghost Gear Report - 10
Ghost Gear Report - 11
Ghost Gear Report - 12
Ghost Gear Report - 13
Ghost Gear Report - 14
Ghost Gear Report - 15
Ghost Gear Report - 16
Ghost Gear Report - 17
Ghost Gear Report - 18
Ghost Gear Report - 19
Ghost Gear Report - 20
Ghost Gear Report - 21
Ghost Gear Report - 22
Ghost Gear Report - 23
Ghost Gear Report - 24
Ghost Gear Report - 25
Ghost Gear Report - 26
Ghost Gear Report - 27
Ghost Gear Report - 28
Ghost Gear Report - 29
Ghost Gear Report - 30
Ghost Gear Report - 31
Ghost Gear Report - 32
Ghost Gear Report - 33
Ghost Gear Report - 34
Ghost Gear Report - 35
Ghost Gear Report - 36
Ghost Gear Report - 37
Ghost Gear Report - 38
Ghost Gear Report - 39
Ghost Gear Report - 40
Ghost Gear Report - 41
Ghost Gear Report - 42
Ghost Gear Report - 43
Ghost Gear Report - 44
Ghost Gear Report - 45
Ghost Gear Report - 46
Ghost Gear Report - 47
Ghost Gear Report - 48
Ghost Gear Report - 49
Ghost Gear Report - 50
Ghost Gear Report - 51
Ghost Gear Report - 52
Ghost Gear Report - 53
Ghost Gear Report - 54
Ghost Gear Report - 55
Ghost Gear Report - 56
Ghost Gear Report - 57
Ghost Gear Report - 58
Ghost Gear Report - 59
Ghost Gear Report - 60
Ghost Gear Report - 61
Ghost Gear Report - 62
Ghost Gear Report - 63
Ghost Gear Report - 64
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