Ghost Fishing? 640.000 Tonnes of Fishing Gear Dumped in Oceans Every Year

In fact, they explain that derelict gear can also alter seabed and marine environments; it can create problems for navigation when ships get their propellers caught in it, in the worst cases leading to capsizing and fatalities.

And ghost gear can also be washed up on the beach as litter, becoming a danger to birds and other coastal species and a health and safety hazard for beach-goers.

How Does This Happen?

There are many different ways that fishing gear can end up in the ocean, FAO informs.

Storms or bad weather can sweep it off of boats into the water. The marine environment itself can cause fishing gear to break, or fishing gear may become so entangled in other objects in the ocean that it becomes too difficult to retrieve.

“Some fishing gear may have unclear ownership and, therefore, be abandoned without repercussion. Sometimes there may be no adequate facilities in ports for boats to dispose of their end-of-life gear. Fishing gear may also be deliberately dumped as part of illegal fishing or simply be the result of accidents and human error.”