Sea Change: tackling ghost fishing gear

Our Sea Change campaign reduced the huge suffering caused by ‘ghost gear’ – abandoned fishing gear that turns oceans into death traps for sea animals

The ghost fishing gear crisis

Abandoned, lost and discarded nets, lines and traps are one of the biggest threats to our sea life. A staggering 640,000 tonnes of gear is left in our oceans each year. That gear traps, injures, mutilates and kills hundreds of thousands of whales, seals, turtles and birds annually. So, through our Sea Change campaign, we’re aiming to save one million animals by 2018.

You can upload pictures and locations of ghost gear here.

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

Ghost fishing gear: our work

We’re working in three ways to protect animals from ghost fishing gear. We: 

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

Tackling the problem: what you can do?

As a member of the public, you can:

• Clean up ghost fishing gear and other rubbish, at your local beach and diving sites
• Report abandoned fishing gear to the Sea Change website
• Help us photograph the ghost gear fishing problem

Global Ghost Gear initiative

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative is a big part of our Sea Change campaign. By collaborating with a range of partners, we’re working to understand just how bad the problem of ghost fishing gear is – and to respond with solutions that work for animals and people. The seafood industry spends millions each year untangling nets from propellers, for example, so we’re developing solutions that protect animals and benefit businesses too.

Find out how to get involved with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.