OpenASFA highlights: Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear

OpenASFA has curated several collections on specific topics within the fields of aquatic sciences, fisheries and aquaculture. To coincide with Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) being AGROVOC’s concept of the month for June 2024, this news article presents the OpenASFA collection on ALDFG. 

As stated in the joint UNEP-FAO report published in 2009, “Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is of increasing concern due to its numerous negative environmental and economic impacts, including navigational hazards and associated safety issues. The ability of ALDFG to continue to fish (often referred to as “ghost fishing”) has detrimental impacts on fish stocks and potential impacts on endangered species and benthic environments. ALDFG also results in both economic and social costs that can be significant” (Macfadyen, 2009).  

The  term “abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear”  has recently been added to the ASFA Thesaurus and in June 2024 was named concept of the month: https://www.fao.org/agrovoc/concepts-of-the-month The concept is available in 12 languages on ASFA and AGROVOC thesauri and has the following definition:  

The term “abandoned fishing gear” means fishing gear over which that operator/owner has control and that could be retrieved by owner/operator, but is deliberately left at sea due to force majeure or other unforeseen reasons. The term “lost fishing gear” means fishing gear over which the owner/operator has accidentally lost control and that cannot be located and/or retrieved by owner/operator. The term “discarded fishing gear” means fishing gear that is released at sea without any attempt for further control or recovery by the owner/operator. 

The ASFA Secretariat has compiled a short OpenASFA collection of 67 resources related ALDFG, which is available to search here. A selection of these resources is presented here, grouped under the following topics: (1) Impact on aquatic environment; (2) Legal aspects and policies; (3) Monitoring and Identification; (4) Mitigation and best practices; (5) Removal and Recycling; (6) Technology and innovation; (7) Public awareness.  

If you are aware of any publication which is missing from this collection, please let us know and we will be happy to include it on OpenASFA. If you have a suggestion for another collection the OpenASFA should cover, please contact: [email protected]  

List of selected ALDFG publications (2021-2023) 

Impact on aquatic environment 

This section includes publications covering effect of ALDFG on the aquatic environment and particular species, by creating threats to biodiversity and habitats.  

Angiolillo, M., Fortibuoni, T. 2020. Impacts of Marine Litter on Mediterranean Reef Systems: From Shallow to Deep Waters. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.581966  

Azevedo-Santos, V.M., Marques, L.M., Teixeira, C.R. 2021. Digital media reveal negative impacts of ghost nets on Brazilian marine biodiversity. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112821  

Curnick, D.J., Feary, D.A., Cavalcante, G.H. 2020. Risks to large marine protected areas posed by drifting fish aggregation devices. Conservation Biology, 35(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13684 

Gajanur, A.R., Jaafar, Z. 2022. Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear at urban coastlines. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113341  

Sarrouf Willson, M., Turley, C., Daar, L. A., et al. 2021. Addressing marine wildlife entanglement in derelict fishing nets using community-based social marketing: Case study and lessons learnt. Social Marketing Quarterly, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/15245004211053841   

Thomas, S.N., Mandhir, S.K., Krishnankutty, H., et al. 2023. Ghost fishing capacity of lost experimental gillnets: a preliminary study from Indian waters. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-25029-7  

Mitigation and best practices 

This section includes publications on mitigation measures and best practices implemented in different regions.  

Giskes, I., Baziuk, J., Pragnell-Raasch, H, and Perez Roda, A. 2022. Report on good practices to prevent and reduce marine plastic litter from fishing activities. Rome and London, FAO and IMO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8665en  

Giskes, I., Baziuk, J., Pragnell-Raasch, H. y Perez Roda, A. 2022. Informe sobre buenas prácticas para prevenir y reducir la basura plástica marina procedente de las actividades pesqueras. Roma y Londres, FAO y OMI. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8665es  

Giskes, I., Baziuk, J., Pragnell-Raasch, H. and Perez Roda, A. 2022. Rapport sur les bonnes pratiques pour prévenir et réduire les déchets plastiques marins provenant des activités de pêche. Rome et Londres, FAO et IMO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8665fr  

Richardson, K., Hardesty, B.D., Vince, J.Z., and Wilcox, C. 2021. Global causes, drivers, and prevention measures for lost fishing gear. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:690447. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.690447  

United Nations Environment Programme, & Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia 2023. Untangled: Regional Workshop on Ghost Gear in the East Asian Seas - Summary Report. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/42120 . 

Legal aspects and Policies 

This section includes publications covering legal aspects and policies related to ALDFG.  

Axelsson, A. 2023. Haunted sea: An overview of problems and initiatives in relation to lost fishing gear. KIMO Report. Gothenburg, KIMO  https://www.kimointernational.org/download/19251/  

Hodgson, S.  2022. Legal aspects of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear. Rome, FAO and IMO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8071en 

Hodgson, S. 2022. Aspects juridiques des engins de pêche abandonnés, perdus ou rejetés. Rome, FAO et OM I. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8071fr 

Hodgson, S. 2022. Aspectos jurídicos de los aparejos de pesca abandonados, perdidos o descartados. Roma, FAO y OMI. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8071es 

Lovell, T.A. 2023. Managing abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (Derelict Gear) in Eastern Caribbean small-scale fisheries: An assessment of legislative, regulatory and policy gaps. Marine Policy, Vol.148, 105432. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X22004791  

OECD. 2021. Towards G7 action to combat ghost fishing gear: A background report prepared for the 2021 G7 Presidency of the United Kingdom. OECD Environment Policy Papers, No. 25, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/a4c86e42-en. 

Pedersen, E.M., Andersen, N.G., Egekvist, J., Nielsen, A., Olsen, J., Thompson, F. & Larsen, F. 2021. Ghost nets in Danish waters. DTU Aqua Report no. 394-2021. National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 83 pp. + appendices in separate report https://www.aqua.dtu.dk/-/media/institutter/aqua/publikationer/rapporter-352-400/394-2021_ghost-nets-in-danish-waters.pdf  

Monitoring and Identification  

This section includes publications on marking, identification and monitoring of ALDFG. 

Bornt, K. et al. 2023. Plastic gear loss estimates from a major Australian pot fishery. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 80(1), https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsac222 

Einarsson, H., He, P. & Lansley, J. 2023. Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear – Manual for the marking of fishing gear. Suppl. 2. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc4251en  

Gallagher, A., Randall, P., Sivyer, D., et al. 2023. Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in Sri Lanka – A pilot study collecting baseline data. Marine Policy, 148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105386  

Hardesty, B.D., Roman, L., Duke, N.C., et al. 2021. Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear ‘ghost nets’ are increasing through time in Northern Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 173, Pt. A. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112959  

He, P. & Lansley, J. 2023. Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear – A framework for conducting a risk assessment for a system on the marking of fishing gear. Suppl 1. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc4084en  

Syversen, T., Vollstad, J. 2023. Application of radio frequency identification tags for marking of fish gillnets and crab pots: Trials in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, Norway. Fisheries Research, 259, 106557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2022.106557  

Removal and Recycling 

This section includes publications on various aspects of removal and recycling of ALDFG. 

Anon. 2022. Ghost gear busters. Ship and Boat International, 40. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/ghost-gear-busters/docview/2690252283/se-2  

Courtney, A., Friedman, S., Weaver, J., Van, N. D., & Reinhardt, J. 2020. Estimating the benefits of derelict crab trap removal in the Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts, 43(7), 1821-1835. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00812-2  

Kozioł, A., Paso, K. G., & Kuciel, S. 2022. Properties and recyclability of abandoned fishing net-based plastic debris. Catalysts, 12(9), 948. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12090948    

Weißbach Gunter, Gilian, G., Stolte, A., & Schneider, F. 2022. Material studies for the recycling of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). Waste Management & Research, 40(7), 1039-1046. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X211052850   

World Bank. 2023. Management, Retrieval and Recycling of End-of-Life and Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear: The Evidence Base from Capture Fisheries. Other Environmental Study. https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/epdf/10.1596/39804  

Technology/innovation 

Publications listed in this section provide information of technological advancement and innovations applied to combat ALDFG. 

Anon. 2021. Canada continues to combat ghost gear in our oceans with launch of new reporting system. (2021, Jul 21). Canada NewsWire Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/canada-continues-combat-ghost-gear-our-oceans/docview/2553521007/se-2  

Deshpande, P. C., & Haskins, C. 2021. Application of systems engineering and sustainable development goals towards sustainable management of fishing gear resources in Norway. Sustainability, 13(9), 4914. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094914   

Fulton, L., McIntyre, J., Duncan, K., Smith, A., Walker, T.R., Brown, C.J. 2023. Evaluating the use of side scan sonar for improved detection and targeted retrieval of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear. Continental Shelf Research, 265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2023.105077.  

Kozak, G., & Morris, R. 2022. The future of ghost gear looks less haunting with side scan sonar intervention. Ocean News & Technology, 40-41. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/future-ghost-gear-looks-less-haunting-with-side/docview/2763216233/se-2  

Welch, L. 2021. Tech proliding solutions to 'ghost fishing' gear problem. Alaska Journal of Commerce, 45(40), 8-8,11. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/tech-proliding-solutions-ghost-fishing-gear/docview/2582441977/se-2  

Public awareness 

Public awareness section contains publications from various sources such as newspapers, wire feeds, blogs and podcasts targeting general public and explaining threats to the aquatic environment posed by ALDFG and efforts to combat them. 

Johal, Hardip. 2023. Joel Baziuk: Plastic ‘ghost Gear’ Is a Huge Problem for Wildlife and Fishers Alike - It’s Time to Tackle It. The Vancouver Sun (Online), 18 May 2023, www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/joel-baziuk-plastic-ghost-gear-is-huge-problem/docview/2815632185/se-2?accountid=41827 

Anon. 2020. Discarded Fishing Gear ‘deadly’ for Wildlife. Liverpool Echo, 20 Oct. 2020, p. 18. ProQuest Central, Accessed 13 July 2023. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/discarded-fishing-gear-deadly-wildlife/docview/2451945549/se-2  

Anon. 2022. 740,000km of fishing line and 14 billion hooks: We reveal just how much fishing gear is lost at sea each year. (2022, Oct 13). EveningReport.Nz Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/740-000km-fishing-line-14-billion-hooks-we-reveal/docview/2723964905/se-2  

References 

Macfadyen, G., Huntington, T., Cappell, R. 2009. Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No.185 / FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No 523, UNEP/FAO. https://www.fao.org/3/i0620e/i0620e.pdf