Have you ever been on a dive and spotted an old fishing net snarled up along the coral reef? Or seen a manta ray swim by with hooks lodged in its wings? Or a dead sea turtle trapped in an entanglement of fishing lines? These are all symptoms of a problem that is called ghost fishing. It is a global issue that we need to combat as scuba divers to preserve the beauty, value and life that is our oceans.

What is ghost fishing?

Ghost fishing is an issue that arises from ghost gear. This includes fishing gear such as fishing lines, nets, and traps no longer actively used or managed by fisheries or fishers. The ghost gear is then left to drift with oceanic currents, wind up on beaches, or become tangled on coral reefs where it is responsible for trapping, choking, and killing many marine species. These include anything from sharks, dolphins, and rays, to turtles, reef fish, whales or even sea birds. Thus, the term ‘ghost fishing’ arises from the idea that although no one is actively fishing, marine life is still injured, dying, and getting caught because of the gear.

Bad weather, poor waste or recycling management systems in place, the convenience of abandoning gear instead of retrieving it, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing are all causes of ghost gear ending up in our seas and thus, the cause of ghost fishing.

Not only does it directly contribute to the immediate suffering of many different marine species, it can also lead to harmful and fatal complications down the line. Some of these include starvation due to entrapment, infected cuts as a result of flesh wounds from fishing lines and hooks, and issues with the ingestion of ghost gear such as perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, obstruction, sepsis, and death due to toxicity.

In addition to harming marine life, ghost gear can also smother reefs and damage boat engines. Due to vast and powerful oceanic currents, the issue of ghost fishing rarely remains local. This can also lead to an accelerated dispersal of invasive species across different marine environments, spreading diseases and parasites from one spot to another. This is what makes dealing with ghost fishing hard - It has a transboundary nature, therefore making it hard to determine specific causes, tackle sources, and gain local or national support for action.

What can you do to help

As scuba divers, we are in a position to directly make a positive impact and combat ghost fishing. By bringing a dive knife with you every time you go diving, you’ll be able to free ghost nets and lines off of the reef, and if needed, also aid animals that have been ensnared (though do this with caution and ask a professional for help if they are present).

Furthermore, you can always support initiatives that deal with marine pollution, aim to reform commercial fisheries, and work with fishers to educate, encourage and provide incentives for them to be conscious of their impact as fishers and the implications of ghost fishing and ghost gear. Two examples of these initiatives are Pandu Laut and the Olive Ridley Project.

Lastly, doing research and being conscious of how your seafood has been obtained is also a crucial part of combatting ghost fishing and marine degradation. Is your seafood coming from commercial fisheries? Artisanal fishermen? Your buddy down the road who goes spearfishing? The latter is far more sustainable and eco-friendly than the former and is less likely to produce any ghost gear or contribute to ghost fishing. Thinking about these things is a way of combatting ghost fishing as a consumer.

By learning about the issues that face our oceans, and what we can do to help alleviate them is all part of being a responsible diver striving for a future where divers, fishers and marine life can sustainably co-exist.

Written by Kayli Wouters

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