Prevent Ghost Fishing Waste: Practical Steps
Ghost fishing waste is nets, creel/lobster/crab pots, longlines and monofilament line that has been lost, abandoned or dumped at sea. A buoy line can part on a sharp edge, a knot slips, a trap gets dragged by a passing vessel, or a net snags on rough ground and tears free. All harm or kill marine creatures, and those that predate on dead creatures in the sea.
Once loose, ghost gear spreads damage in two ways. First, it keeps catching wildlife. Second, it batters habitats that animals need for shelter and breeding. Over time, plastics and synthetic fibres also break down into smaller pieces. Those fragments can become microplastics, which move through the food chain, from tiny filter feeders to the fish on our plates.
Around 10% of all ocean debris is ghost fishing waste. 140,000 (protected) marine mammals die ach year in fishing gear. 83% of North Atlantic Right Whales show scars from entanglement.
Damage to reefs, seagrass, and the seabed
Ghost fishing waste doesn’t only injure animals directly. It also breaks the places that keep marine life abundant. Drifting nets can snag on reefs and tear at coral and rocky outcrops. Even where corals aren’t tropical, reef structures still matter. They hold food, shelter young fish, and support whole webs of life.
On softer ground, heavy traps and lines can drag. They can gouge the seabed, flattening features that fish and shellfish rely on. Seagrass is especially sensitive. It stabilises sediment, stores carbon, and gives young fish a safe nursery.
How to prevent ghost fishing before it starts
Although clean-ups matter, the better path is to stop ghost fishing waste in the first place. Biodegradable escape panels are one option, so trapped creatures can leave. Rot cords (biodegradable twine) are similar. Weak links help large creatures to break free, if they snag a line.
Timed release options exist that open after a set period, but local rules vary, so check local fisheries guidance. Other advice includes:
- Label your gear: Mark pots, creels, and buoys, to return lost kit.
- Record locations: Log GPS points when you set gear.
- Keep clear of high-traffic routes and sharp ground.
- Adjust or postpone journeys if rough conditions are forecast.
- Use the right buoy lines and knots, splices and clips.
- Retrieve promptly: Shorter soak times reduce loss.
Report loss early at local harbour authorities, fisheries offices and coastguards, with clear descriptions of last known locations and whether hooks, traps or nets were involved.
Ideas to Help Prevent Ghost Fishing Waste
- Monomaster lets you store fishing gear, until you find a recycling station.
- Ask councils or businesses to sponsor Terracycle’s Sports Equipment Box (also accepts fishing rods and nets). Just send everything off.
- Ghost Fishing Solutions (this alerts when a line detached from a buoy, or sinks deeper than intended).
- Smelts (this uses lift-air technology to prevent creatures becoming trapped from pots and lines).
Where to report ghost fishing waste
If you see nets, lines, or pots on a beach or near a slipway, pause before you touch. Heavy net bundles can shift suddenly. Tangled line can cut deeply. Hooks can hide in weeds. Live animals may be inside and can bite.
Instead, take photos and note locations (a map pin helps) then report to the harbour office, local council and ghost gear programmes near you:
- For divers
- For fishing crews
- Waterhaul (report lost fishing nets and find emergency contacts for entangled marine creatures).
- Ecotribo (also report ghost nets)
Ensure these organisations are notified on volunteer beach cleans.
If you do pick up small bits of ghost fishing gear, use a tool rather than bare hands due to hooks, and carry a tough bag or container so sharp items don’t tear through. Waterhaul offers a good knife made from recycled ghost net that can be used to safely remove ghost fishing gear.
The knife includes a 65mm serrated section to cut tough ropes and nets, with a rounded tip for safety. Built to last a lifetime, rinse and dry the blade after use, and regularly oil and sharpen, for best results.
Your local council has a legal duty to remove litter on public land, no matter who dropped it. So for public beaches and rivers, it can serve litter abatement orders (for landowners to remove it, or bill for clean-up).
Volunteer to Remove Ghost Fishing Waste
Neptune’s Army of Rubbish Cleaners has volunteer drivers, who recover fishing waste (it welcomes dry-land volunteers to sort and collect rubbish). As well as finding live crabs and lobsters, it has also found glass bottles, tin cans, spark plugs, umbrellas, golf balls and torch batteries.
Fishing for Litter works worldwide with fishing crews to collect litter while out on fishing expeditions. This is returned to shore and recycled at special bins.
Many are concerned that ocean-clean-up machines could collect tiny creatures that are too small to go through filters. More hopeful are ‘seabins’ that suck up marine trash (but can be immediately emptied back in the ocean, so wildlife can escape). ‘Water wheels’ (placed at river ends to move at very slow pace) also let creatures/fish move away in time.
