Abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear continues to catch and kill marine wildlife long after abandonment, with sea turtles being among the most frequently documented victims of ghost gear entanglement.
Sea turtles entangled in ghost gear drown if lines prevent surfacing to breathe, or suffer progressive amputation as constricting lines cut through flippers over days to weeks. Rescue of ghost gear victims is rarely possible because encounters happen far from land and human observation. The welfare cost of ghost gear falls on individual animals that are entirely innocent of any interaction with the fishing industry whose waste threatens them.