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AV¾ãÀÖ²¿ the authors:Ìý is an Associate Professor in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at AV¾ãÀÖ²¿. is a Research Assistant in the Marine Affairs Program at AV¾ãÀÖ²¿. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Oceanography at AV¾ãÀÖ²¿. Ariel Smith at Coastal Action also co-authored this article.

Fishing gear and plastic marine debris . Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear — often called — found during beach cleanups.

Estimates of the weight of abandoned fish gear vary widely by region and by type of gear used. One study . In one fishing region in Nova Scotia, . Overall, an estimated .

This derelict fishing gear continues to catch fish, including commercially valuable and threatened species, and other marine fauna. For example, ghost gear, especially nets, . One .

It also costs fishers. Ghost gear reduces catch rates and cuts into profits, it is and — getting tangled in propellers and snarling anchors.

But .

Ghost gear impacts

Ghost gear can and . Wildlife may eat large pieces of it — — or become entangled in it. When plastic coatings from wire crab or lobster traps fragment over time, microplastic particles , disrupting natural hormone production and endocrine function, causing shell disease and affecting reproduction.

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Ghost gear creates . Trapped animals die, attracting other scavengers, which meet the same fate. This can have negative impacts on commercial fish populations. For example, to the blue crab fishery in Chesapeake Bay, Md. , which makes knowing specific causes of gear loss challenging.

that gear losses are the result of environmental conditions, gear conflicts among fishers and other industries, poor gear condition and inappropriate disposal at sea.

Lost gear can be transported long distances by tides and currents, resulting in tangles (called snarls), which can be hard to relocate and retrieve. , but inappropriate discarding of gear at sea also occurs due to inefficient and inadequate solid waste management for end-of-life fishing gear.

Ghost gear in the Maritimes

Commercial lobster is the dominant and most valuable fishery in the Maritimes, with 3,000 license holders and exports valued at — one-third of Canada’s fishery exports.

The region is deeply connected to the fishing industry. Fishers and those working in related industries rely on healthy commercial fish stocks and habitat to support their livelihoods.

Although fishers retrieve gear when possible and return lost gear to other fishers when they encounter it, some gear inevitably remains lost at sea. A using seafloor imagery estimated 1.8 million pieces of marine debris remain on the Bay of Fundy seafloor, 28 per cent of which is fishing debris. Although the economic losses caused by ghost gear in the Maritimes is unknown, .

Management of ghost gear

Given the scope of the problem, and are growing, along with global movements to address ghost gear, such as the .

As of 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has implemented . However, existing licence conditions prohibit retrieving gear outside of the prescribed fishing season if the gear does not belong to the fisher who found it.

Even so, DFO has supported more than to reduce the amount of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, and implemented the Sustainable Fisheries Solutions and Retrieval Support Contribution Program.

is leading one of these projects in the Maritimes. The collaboration between industry, academia and government aims to prevent, reduce and assess impacts of ghost gear in three lobster fishing areas on Nova Scotia’s south shore from 2020 to 2022.

Ten rope recycling bins will be installed at wharves throughout the region and ghost gear will be retrieved by fishers from identified hot spots areas over 159 days at sea. . The project will also conduct an impact assessment of ghost gear during retrieval to determine impacts on marine life and to estimate economic losses.

will recycle retrieved rope into diesel fuel. Innovative mapping technologies will be used in partnership with AV¾ãÀÖ²¿ and the . Mapping of ghost gear will improve the retrieval process by using side-scan sonar technology to create detailed maps of the seafloor and identify where lost gear has settled.

Fishers do not want to lose gear and they recognize that ghost gear continues to harm marine life and impacts their bottom line. Future programs to retrieve ghost gear helps protect marine ecosystems and creates economic opportunities for communities that rely on fragile marine resources.

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AV¾ãÀÖ²¿ is a founding partner of The Conversation Canada, an online media outlet providing independent, high-quality explanatory journalism. Originally established in Australia in 2011, it has had more than 85 commissioning editors and 30,000-plus academics register as contributors. A full list of articles written by AV¾ãÀÖ²¿ academics can be found onÌý