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 reduce the huge suffering caused by ghost gear.

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 and resources

• NEW: Ghosts beneath the waves executive summary
• NEW: Ghosts beneath the waves report
• Fishing's phantom menace executive summary
• Fishing's phantom menace report
• Sea Change infographic
• Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing

Take action to protect marine animals from ghost gear

We believe that our oceans and the animals that call them home should be protected. And seafood companies must be part of the solution.

Some companies are already acting to help marine animals and now we want others to act too.

Sign our petition and help us prove to companies that Canadians care about protecting our precious ocean life.

Take action