Photo: Cory
We’ve all seen the images of turtles, dolphins and even baby seals caught in nets in the ocean. It’s a massive problem created by the fishing industry because of fishing gear that is either discarded or abandoned in the open seas.
These materials – called ghost nets as they’re largely invisible to the human eye – then drift through the world’s oceans for decades, trapping marine life indiscriminately, causing them to starve, suffocate, or even bleed to death from lacerations and infections.
Experts report that over 640,000 tonnes of lines, nets and pots are discarded each year. This is an alarming figure! What’s worse, it’s increasing annually. Something needs to be done, stat.
Photo: Sea Shepherd
On this day, June 8, we’re proud to launch a Ghostnet Campaign with Sea Shepherd to raise US$100,000 to clean up the oceans around Sicily in October.
The work to be done is broad and sweeping, starting first with the creation of a database of abandoned fishing equipment in the Mediterranean Sea.
This database, created by Sea Shepherd, can involve both private citizens and underwater associations to report the presence of abandoned fishing gear and create a map of the seas. This data collection will be crucial in the planning and scheduling of ghost gear removals.
Photo: Sea Shepherd
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