The Deadliest Form of Marine Plastic Waste: Ghost Fishing

WWF-Turkey (World Wildlife Fund), the Association for the Protection of Marine Life (APML) and Istanbul University are drawing attention to the deadliest form of marine plastic waste through a report titled "Ghost Fishing." Based on the findings of work conducted in Istanbul's Prince Islands by APML with the support of Arçelik, which involved the detection, removal and disposal of lost fishing gear in the sea, the report reveals the impacts of fishing equipment—referred to as "ghost fishing"—on underwater habitats and the reasons for their occurrence. Ghost fishing refers to abandoned fishing equipment continuing to catch marine life without fisherman intervention. Factors leading to lost fishing gear and ghost fishing include deep-sea fishing, poor weather conditions, illegal fishing and the cutting of nets to avoid capture, operational factors and the disposal of obsolete equipment into the sea. The principal environmental impacts of ghost fishing include uncontrolled catching of target and non-target species, adverse effects on endangered species, physical damage to the seafloor, the spread of invasive species and the entry of synthetic materials into the marine food web. Ghost fishing can also obstruct other fishing operations or lead to the loss of new fishing equipment. The report also highlights the plastic waste problem caused by lost fishing gear. Despite certain advantages of using plastic materials in fishing equipment, the report emphasizes the environmental impacts that lost gear causes in the marine environment, stressing that abandoned and lost fishing equipment deepens the plastic problem. According to the report, which includes global estimates for lost fishing gear and information on the situation in Turkey, a large portion of the fishing fleet in the Mediterranean basin uses passive fishing gear, while the regions with the highest concentrations of lost fishing gear are urbanized areas such as Istanbul's coastal zone, the Gulf of Naples and the Ligurian Sea. Trawl nets account for nearly all of the nets detected during dives in designated areas of the Istanbul Strait and Istanbul Islands. Emphasizing the need for national and international preventive policies and practices to minimize the effects of lost or abandoned equipment, WWF-Turkey, APML and Istanbul University are calling on governments, fishing equipment manufacturers and designers, fishers and the public to take decisive action and prevent ghost fishing gear from suffocating the seas on which we all depend.

"A threat to millions of underwater creatures and even diving birds"

Engin Hınçer, Corporate Relations Manager of the Association for the Protection of Marine Life, drew attention to the fact that each fishing device abandoned on the seafloor continues to passively catch marine life for hundreds of years, emphasizing that ghost fishing gear causes millions of underwater creatures and even diving birds to lose their lives. Hınçer noted that this situation causes serious damage to biodiversity in areas where fishing equipment is located, and that the carcinogenic lead found on nets accumulates in fish muscle tissue over time, reaching our tables.

Associate Professor Taner Yıldız from Istanbul University's Faculty of Aquatic Sciences commented as follows:

"We are not too late to transition from singular examples to a comprehensive approach to address the "least visible" threat to 'aquatic life' (SDG14), one of the United Nations' sustainable development goals, by detecting ghost fishing equipment, removing it from the water and ensuring that fishing equipment does not fall outside fisherman control. We should always keep in mind the example of Canada's government allocating 10 million dollars to combat ghost nets, continuously remember the importance of this phenomenon and take steps that bring all stakeholders to the same table."

"Closure of the Strait to trawl fishing is essential"

Ayşe Oruç, Senior Director of WWF-Turkey's Marine and Wildlife Programme, drew attention to the fact that the majority of fishing equipment removed from Istanbul's Prince Islands under the project that formed the basis of the report consisted of trawl nets, continuing as follows: "The violation from time to time of prohibitions related to the fishing depth for trawl nets, which are legal at depths of 24 m in our seas and from 18 m in the Black Sea during certain periods, increases fishing pressure on many pelagic fish species and marine creatures that use shallow waters for reproduction and feeding, and narrows the areas available for small-scale fishers. For the sustainability of our fishery, the depth limit in trawl fishing should be raised to 50 m, the European Union standard. To ensure the sustainability of fish stocks, the closure of the Istanbul Strait—the migration route of fish—to trawl fishing is essential."