Marine Debris Ghost Gear and Fish Welfare

Lost and abandoned fishing gear continues to trap and kill fish for years after abandonment, causing welfare harm at enormous scale.

Key Facts

Ghost gear — abandoned or lost fishing equipment — is estimated at over 640,000 tonnes globally
Lost gill nets can continue catching and killing fish for years at depths inaccessible for retrieval
Fish trapped in ghost gear die by exhaustion, starvation, and oxygen depletion over extended periods
Deep-water crab and lobster pots continue trapping animals when bait is exhausted as fish attract more fish
Ghost gear removal programmes have retrieved tens of thousands of tonnes of gear from ocean floors

Welfare Considerations

Ghost gear causes some of the most prolonged and welfare-damaging mortality in fisheries. Fish trapped in a lost gill net die over hours to days by exhaustion and gill oxygen depletion. Crustaceans trapped in ghost pots may survive for weeks in deteriorating conditions before dying of starvation. The scale is vast — hundreds of thousands of tonnes of gear continuing to fish unattended across ocean floors and water columns globally. Technological solutions including biodegradable panels in traps that open after a set time, GPS tracking of gear, and pot marking requirements reduce ghost gear creation. Recovery programmes that locate and retrieve existing ghost gear prevent ongoing welfare harm.

What You Can Do

Support ghost gear removal organisations working to retrieve abandoned fishing equipment from ocean environments
Advocate for biodegradable panel requirements in all pot and trap fisheries to eliminate ghost gear mortality
Report known ghost gear locations to national coast guard or fisheries management authorities
Choose seafood from fisheries with documented gear loss reporting and mitigation programmes