Introduction
Abandoned, Lost, or Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), commonly known as 'ghost gear', accounts for roughly 10% of global marine litter—amounting to over 640,000 tonnes annually according to UNEP and FAO estimates. In India, coastal surveys indicate derelict nets and fishing lines constitute up to 47.5% of shoreline marine debris, severely threatening marine biodiversity, commercial fisheries, and the blue economy.
Ecological Challenges Posed by Fishing Litter
- Ghost Fishing: Non-biodegradable synthetic gear persists in marine environments for centuries, continuously and indiscriminately entrapping endangered marine megafauna, including Olive Ridley sea turtles, dugongs, cetaceans, and sharks.
- Benthic and Coral Degradation: Drifting trawl nets and heavy fishing lines abrade, smother, and fracture fragile coral reef ecosystems—such as those in the Gulf of Mannar—while degrading critical benthic nursery habitats.
- Microplastic Proliferation: Mechanical weathering and ultraviolet photolysis fragment nylon and polyethylene lines into microplastics, facilitating toxin sorption and trophic bioaccumulation across marine food webs.
Socio-Economic Challenges
- Commercial Stock Depletion: Derelict fishing gear traps harvestable species without human yield, causing estimated localized commercial catch declines ranging between 5% and 30%.
- Maritime Navigational Hazards: Submerged ropes and drifting nets foul vessel propellers and rudder assemblies, inducing high-sea engine breakdowns, capsizing risks, and expensive at-sea salvage operations.
- Financial Drag on Fishers: Gear loss imposes recurring capital burdens on small-scale fishers—averaging over 160 kg per vessel annually in coastal states like Kerala—alongside mounting municipal costs for coastal and harbor cleanups.
Measures Required to Address the Issue
- Gear Marking and Traceability: Implement the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear using RFID tags, QR codes, and color-coded acoustic markers to verify ownership and deter intentional abandonment.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Incorporate commercial fishing gear under Plastic Waste Management Rules to mandate deposit-refund schemes and take-back quotas for net manufacturers.
- Port Reception Facilities (PRF): Operationalize dedicated gear collection and buy-back centres across all major harbours in compliance with MARPOL Annex V, scaling circular economy initiatives like Kerala's Suchitwa Sagaram model.
- Material Innovation: Subsidize research into bio-based, marine-degradable polymers (such as polybutylene succinate) for non-critical gear components to dramatically reduce ghost-fishing lifespans.
- Mandatory Reporting and Global Alignment: Institutionalize spatial logging and mandatory reporting of lost gear under State Marine Fisheries Regulation Acts, while formally aligning national policies with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI).
Conclusion
Transitioning from gear abandonment to upstream circularity through port-based recycling infrastructure, technological traceability, and fisher-led stewardship is essential for sustaining coastal livelihoods and realizing the targets of SDG 14.1 for healthy oceans.