Have you ever heard of the term ‘Ghost Fishing’?
Despite its name, there is nothing supernatural about ghost fishing, however, you should be just as worried.
According to the National Ocean Service, ghost fishing is a term used to describe abandoned fishing equipment that is left in the sea and ‘continues to fish’. Equipment like fishing lines, hooks, crab pots, gillnets, and even trawl gear, can be found in the ocean trapping and entangling the marine creatures that happen to be in their path.
A report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2009 showed that around 100 000 marine mammals are killed each year due to them getting entangled in or consuming the ghost fishing gear. Not to mention the number of fish trapped and the coral that gets broken when the gear is drifted across it by ocean currents.
There are an estimated 640,000 tonnes of ghost fishing equipment in the sea, just over 50,000 buses worth, coming from a range of sources like local and commercial fisheries, cruise ships, and even offshore gas platforms.
Ghost fishing equipment causes issues out of the ocean too. Many times they get washed up on the shore endangering humans and animals that walk the shoreline.
Fishing hooks and lines are the most commonly found items found on the beach from my beach cleaning experiences, with a large amount found especially near to the breakwaters due to people usually fishing on the breakwaters. These hooks may latch onto skin or even pierce it when stepped on and the lines may entangle the feet of humans and even birds that walk by.
Fishing pods are harder to find, however, they are often as dangerous being very heavy and rusted, they are hard to dispose of and sometimes can also be carrying other sharp objects in them.
Some ways that have been proposed to solve this issue include providing incentives for finding the lost fishing equipment and also tagging the items before they are being used to be able to track where they go.
I feel that these solutions however would not be very effective as the real problem with ghost fishing is the inability to retrieve the equipment once it is lost at sea due to the sheer vastness of the ocean. I am sure that no fishers would like to lose their gear and thus a penalty or incentive system cannot truly solve this issue.
A possible way to circumvent this would be to try and find a material that breaks down into harmless substances after being soaked in water for a while like a finely compressed powder of sorts to make the equipment. However, this also has financial implications for poorer fishers who may not be able to continually afford to buy it.
The true solution to this issue may be far away, but fishing is a key source of food for many so it is unrealistic to suggest a complete ban on fishing equipment. Despite this, there is also an urgent need to come up with a solution before too much of our marine life and beaches are damaged by ghost fishing.
Hi Mark,
“Fishing hooks and lines are the most commonly found items found on the beach from my beach cleaning experiences, with a large amount found especially near to the breakwaters due to people usually fishing on the breakwaters. These hooks may latch onto skin or even pierce it when stepped on and the lines may entangle the feet of humans and even birds that walk by.”
This literally made me grimace and cringe. Funny that I’ve never even thought about this aspect. Have you or any of your fellow beach cleaners been injured by such gear ? Or have you ever encountered animals with injuries ?
Thanks,
jc
Hi Dr Coleman,
I personally have not gotten injured by fishing gear but it is quite a common occurrence, especially when cleaning up the beach during low tide when gear that is trapped amongst the rocks are exposed. The most common ones are fishing hooks getting caught in feet when people do not notice it. Also when trying to move heavy fish or crab pots that usually are weighed down by rocks or other litter inside, cuts and abrasions are often caused.
As for animals, besides fishes that are trapped in the nets and hooks that are left there to die, I have also seen a hermit crab being entangled within some fishing line
Mark
Hi Mark,
I understand that for some beach cleanups organisers may advise participants to stay away from fishing lines and hooks to prevent injury. I took part in Operation Deadline at Ubin which was specifically targeting fishing lines and hooks.
I’ve personally seen a crow getting stuck in a fishing line before. Apparently, an angler had discarded the line onto the tree and the crow got entangled and got stuck upside down. We had to cut it lose by attaching a knife to a pole. This was during a scout event and we were low key worried that we would be mistaken as being the ones who caught the crow as we happened to be demonstrating how animal traps worked nearby (we only activate the trap during demonstration and don’t leave it unattended in that state).
Hi Ee Kin!,
I did not know that there were beach cleanups that targetted lines and hooks but it is a very good idea as this is a source of litter that is lesser-known to the general public than the common plastics and styrofoam.
Wow but that sounds horrible, was the crow injured after hanging from the tree? I cannot imagine the pain it must have been it :( thankfully there were people to save it I guess.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and reading my blog! Hopefully, we can participate in a clean-up together next time!
Mark
ouaiouille !
That sounds super painful. I hope you’ve kept your tetanus vaccinations up to date.
Poor crab.
I think this issue (wildlife entrapment, be it in the water or on land) is the most personally upsetting to me.
Thanks for your reply