Addressing Ghost Gear in North America
Status: Active
Operational Plan: 2022
Project Duration: 36 months
Start date: December 1, 2022
Ghost gear (abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear – ALDFG) is a particularly harmful form of marine debris. The Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) is the largest cross-sectoral alliance dedicated to solving this issue, and includes Canada, Mexico, and the United States as government members. This project will work with the GGGI in engaging local communities to prevent, reduce and retrieve ghost gear, and in building knowledge that will advance responsible management of active and end-of-life fishing gear.
To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.
Issues
- Globally, at least 640,000 tonnes of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) enter the ocean every year, harming marine life, reducing fish stocks, and impacting livelihoods.
- Engaging and building relationships with harvesters, the fishing industry and decision makers are essential in finding solutions to ghost gear.
- New knowledge is needed to inform ghost gear prevention and reduction solutions, and end-of-life gear management.
Aim
This initiative aims to prevent and reduce ghost gear in Canada, Mexico and the United States by developing tools to address ALDFG best practices in fisheries, building fishing industry understanding and collaboration, identifying knowledge and data gaps, and supporting responsible management of end-of-life fishing gear in coastal fishing communities.
Deliverables
- Capacity-building in communities to support ghost gear prevention and retrieval
- Guidelines, best practices, protocols, lessons learned to support ghost gear reduction
- Knowledge on efficacy of gear location technology
- Recommendations on end-of-life management options
Contact
For more information about this project or to partner with us, contact:
Lucie Robidoux
Head of Unit, Ecosystems