Sea Change campaign: tackling ghost fishing gear

The ghost fishing gear crisis

‘Ghost gear’ – lost or abandoned fishing equipment - is one of the biggest threats to marine animals in our oceans. A staggering 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear is left in our oceans each year – more than one tonne every minute!

Ghost gear traps, injures, mutilates and kills more than 136,000 whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, turtles birds each year.

Through our Sea Change campaign, we’re working to save one million animals from the threat of ghost gear by 2018.

Creating solutions

By bringing together governments, businesses and fishing organizations, we can protect sea life and move towards a future free from the ghost fishing gear threat.

We’re working to protect animals from ghost fishing gear by:

• Bringing together partners to stop gear being abandoned.
• Supporting new ways to remove ghost gear from the seas.
• Helping to replicate successful local sea animal rescue efforts on a global scale.

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative

Set up by us in 2015, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) is an alliance of non-government organizations, academics and fishing industry leaders that aims to reduce the amount of ghost gear in the oceans.

Learn more about the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and how it's helping to drive solutions >

Old ghost gear finds new use

It’s hard to think about the thousands of animals - whales, dolphins, turtles and birds - that get caught and die in lost and discarded fishing gear, or ghost gear, every year. That’s one of the reasons that Joel Baziuk, Operations Supervisor at Steveston Harbour Authority in British Columbia, began the net recycling program with partners Aquafil and Interface Inc. to turn old nets into carpet tiles and other products. Learn more about Joel's net recycling program >

Reports

• Fishing's phantom menace executive summary
• Fishing's phantom menace report
• Sea Change Infographic (pictured below)

How to play GHOST GEAR DODGE:

1. Visit ghostgear.worldanimalprotection.org and play on your computer or your mobile phone
2. Click/tap to swim up & release to swim down to avoid getting caught in ghost gear
3. Sign-up at the end of the game to learn more about Sea Change work happening locally and share the game with your family and friends to help build the movement