A review of ghost fishing: scientific approaches to evaluation and solutions

Abstract

Research on ghost fishing became active in the late 1980s. Ghost fishing has been confirmed for traps, gillnets, trammel-nets and small seine nets. Some lost traps are functional for a long period of time, even in shallow waters. Consequences for gillnets after loss depend on seabed conditions. The ghost fishing function of gillnets remaining on flat seabeds declines rapidly with decreasing heights and increasing visibility. Gillnets left tangled around an artificial reef, for example, three-dimensionally maintain the initial magnitude of ghost fishing for a long period of time, even after badly fouled. There are increasing numbers of researches working on the total number of mortality per gear after gear loss for gillnets and trammel-nets. It has become also possible to estimate the total number of mortality for a unit period of time in a certain fishing sector. This paper reviews research which has provided evidence and quantitative data on ghost fishing, and proposes five items important for future studies on ghost fishing.

A global review of marine turtle entanglement in anthropogenic debris: a baseline for further action

“…This gear is often lost, abandoned or discarded when it becomes derelict, attracting scavengers and acting as FADs (Gilman 2011). Subsequently, species such as marine turtles become entangled within the gear, perhaps encouraged by this process of 'selfbaiting' (Matsuoka et al 2005).…”

Effects of ghost fishing on the population of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) in Womens Bay, Kodiak Island, Alaska

“…If Dungeness crab pots were required to have a sidewall release as an escape mechanism, this requirement would greatly reduce this problem. To reveal further means of reducing ghost fi shing, more experimental work is needed to examine the effectiveness of various release mechanisms for allowing target species and other species to escape pots (Matsuoka et al, 2005).…”

“…Ghost fi shing is the capturing and killing of marine organisms by fi shing gear that has been lost or abandoned (Smolowitz, 1978) and is a serious economic and ecological problem in fi sheries around the world (Breen, 1990;Laist, 1996;Matsuoka et al, 2005). Even after they are lost, nets can continue to entangle and kill organisms (Kaiser et al, 1996;Santos et al, 2003;Baeta et al, 2009), and fi sh traps and crustacean pots can continue to attract, trap, and kill target and nontarget species (Stevens et al, 2000;Hebert et al, 2001;Erzini et al, 2008;Ramirez-Rodriguez and Arreguin-Sanchez, 2008), such as reptiles, birds, and mammals (Havens et al, 2008;Good et al, 2009;2010).…”

Ghost fishing in the pot fishery for blue swimmer crabs Portunus pelagicus in Queensland, Australia

“…For example, larger (1.5 m diameter), more robust collapsible trawl mesh pots are now used in the offshore P. pelagicus pot fishery, that utilise 12 mm galvanised steel rings. The potential for the offshore pots to persist longer in the environment is compounded by the fact that the fishery occurs in offshore waters, with pots generally taking longer to break down in deeper water (Matsuoka et al, 2005).…”

“…As to the length of time that a lost pot remains viable, Matsuoka et al (2005) state that the function of ghost fishing for traps may decline with time. Fishers now use pots incorporating trawl mesh because the nature of the synthetic material leads to little degradation over time, resulting in a pot with a relatively long fishing life.…”