海油海油海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海海� This kind of fishing net is mainly used to catch migratory fish, and the entangled fish will hang on the net like thorns and cannot be broken free.
As an official of the Borderless Deep Blue Citizen Science Project, Tunan understands that even if it is abandoned, this fishing net will still become the "ghost catcher" of marine life : "Such intercepting fishing nets will be used in many large fishery fields. After being abandoned, it will not only trap marine life, but also cause difficulties in fish migration and affect population reproduction." Tunan swam forward along this fishing net for 5 minutes, but still has no end.
△ diver is salvaging the abandoned fishing net. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
sea turtle was wrapped in fishing nets and drowned because he could not breathe for a long time; the belly of the dead seabird was full of fish hooks and fishing lines; sea lion was wrapped in the neck of the fishing nets, and was unable to eat and starved to death; a large area of coral was covered by fishing nets, unable to accept light, and gradually bleached and eventually died... These discarded or lost fishing gear became the culprits of these tragic scenes.
ubiquitous damage
Tunan has been a diving instructor for nearly seven years. At first they were just a group of diving enthusiasts, gathering together to make this deep-loved sea cleaner. Gradually more and more people have joined in, and today's Borderless Deep Blue is a public welfare organization that promotes divers to participate in marine protection and public education.
"While people enjoy the huge benefits brought by the ocean, they should also protect it." Tunan told reporters, "Almost every diver has encountered such a ghost fishing gear. It is like when you are traveling in a scenic spot, you see a garbage bag thrown on the ground."
△ Sea turtle entangled in fishing nets. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
There is currently no unified conclusion on the specific number of ghost fishing gears. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ("FAO ") stated in 2009 that 10% of marine garbage each year is ghost fishing gear, equivalent to 640,000 tons per year. But it is likely that much more than that. Research published in Science in 2020 shows that in 2018 alone, 19-23 million tons of garbage were discharged into the ocean. If 10% of the figures are accurate, 1.9-2.3 million tons of ghost fishing gear will be generated every year.
They are like ghosts, floating in the ocean for a long time. Because they are not easy to see, fish, turtles, and birds may be entangled to death, and even ships and divers may be trapped and put in danger.
According to FAO Fisheries Committee data in 2018, at least 650,000 marine mammals, 700,000 seabirds and thousands of sea turtles are caught by ghost fishing gear each year. The entanglement of ghost fishing gear is at least three times the harm to marine life than other garbage.
△ Borderless Deep Blue Volunteer. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Death caused by ghost fishing gear is usually slow and painful, and the process of suffocation or hunger can sometimes last for several months. After the creature dies and decomposes, the ghost fishing gear will not disappear, but will continue to float under the sea. "The fishing gear that originally existed for killing was discarded but did not stop its 'mission'," said Liu Xuelian, co-executive of Wujing Deep Blue.
Ghost fishing gear is also the key to the problem of marine plastics. Cheap and durable plastics are very attractive to the fishery. Fishing nets made of nylon, fishing lines made of polyethylene , etc., these plastics can last for hundreds of years without degradation, and continue to threaten the health of the environment and biological life in the ocean. After decomposition of
plastic, it becomes plastic particles smaller than gravel , distributed in the ocean, coastline and seabed sediments. Up to 92% of marine animals and wreckage contain plastic particles. The Global Ghost Fishing Tackle Initiative (GGGI) stated in its 2021 annual report that among the five major ocean currents, 46%-70% of the plastic particles are caused by ghost fishing tackle.
Recently, researchers from New Zealand published an article saying that has found plastic particles in ice shelves in Antarctica, and the cleanest part in the world has been contaminated. Previously, researchers said traces of plastic particles were found in human blood, lungs and even breast milk. The chemical substances produced by the decomposition of plastics not only harm marine organisms and the environment, but also through the biological chain cycle, ultimately causing harm to the human body.
990% of the fish killed by ghost fishing gear are economical species, which also causes huge economic losses. World Animal Conservation Association said that ghost fishing gear has caused a reduction of 5%-30% of the world's fish resources, causing losses of millions of dollars. WWF 2020 data shows that removing ghost fishing gear from the seabed will bring more than 20 million US dollars in production.
Retrieve lost net
There are two main reasons for ghost fishing gear. One is the intentional loss caused by illegal fishing, and the other is the more important reason for to be accidental loss caused by weather, aging of fishing gear, trapped by obstacles on the seabed.
In order to deal with the problem of ghost fishing gear, governments and international organizations have carried out a lot of work, and the main research directions include the production and recycling process of fishing gear.
Regarding the material of fishing gear, researchers have invented fishing nets made of environmentally friendly materials, such as organic fibers and biodegradable plastics. However, it has not been widely promoted in practice. Liu Xuelian said, "Economics is the primary factor for fishermen, followed by durability. New materials that can only be used for one or two years are not attractive to them."
△ divers are salvaging discarded fishing gear. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
In order to better supervise fishing gear, scientists proposed a method to produce labeled fishing gear, that is, to use physical tags, chemical tags, radio frequency identification, satellite floats and other technologies to mark fishing gear. First, it can help determine the owner of the fishing gear, reduce the occurrence of loss, and reduce the occurrence of ghost fishing gear from the source. Secondly, marking technology can also help locate lost fishing gear as soon as possible and improve the efficiency of removal. In 2018, FAO member states adopted the "Voluntary Guidelines for Fishing Gear Labeling", and the World Association for Conservation of Animals called on these member states to mark all fishing gear by 2025.
In the process of fishing gear recycling, the determination of location is crucial. Although some fishermen will also take the initiative to report to the relevant departments, the number is small and it is limited in helping fishing gear. In addition to marking fishing gear, researchers have begun to develop a fishing gear information reporting system to facilitate fishermen, even divers and tourists to report the fishing gear as soon as they are lost or discovered, so as to facilitate subsequent salvage.
For example, marine scientist Christine Ward Paige has developed an application called eOceans to track ocean conditions in real time, allowing ordinary people to participate in the statistics of ocean information. GGGI is also establishing an information system for global abandoned fishing gear, hoping to allow more groups to participate and benefit.
The salvage work after determining the position of the fishing gear is not easy. Tunan said: "Diver has certain requirements for factors such as water quality and weather, and fishing gear is more difficult than ordinary marine garbage recycling."
△ volunteers weighed the fishing nets. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Tunan and his companions often encounter fishing cages and fishing nets that are more than ten meters long or even dozens of meters. The huge weight and volume are very difficult for divers who do not have many tools to assist. Some fishing gear is buried under the mud and sand, which will raise huge sand and dust when pulled up, making the underwater visibility very low, and salvage becomes more dangerous. Before they go into the water, they will conduct corresponding training, but there will be various emergencies. "The fishing nets will entangle fish and shrimps, and we will also entangle them. There are also fishing cages with metal circles that will make it difficult for you to escape," said Toonan.
Currently, there are many public welfare organizations in the world doing this work, but compared with the huge number of ghost fishing gear in the ocean, the efforts of volunteers are dropping the bucket."Our strength is very weak. All we can do is to arouse more people's attention and let everyone know the importance and urgency of conserving the ocean." Liu Xuelian said. In addition to manual salvage,
is still under development, including sonar detection, underwater robots and other means, but it has not been used on a large scale. The difficulty of technology and economic pressure have made this work slow.
"Turn waste into treasure"
Ghost fishing gear was finally salvaged and got ashore. How to recycle it is a new problem. Some institutions and enterprises that advocate environmental protection are committed to finding a way out for abandoned fishing gear, but they have a long way to go.
Tunan said that the garbage they salvaged before was handed over to the garbage recycling station for treatment, landfill or incineration, and it is difficult to exert its value. This year they contacted professional companies to classify ghost fishing gear in a more specific way, and then crushed and remade into plastic products. "The classification of plastics is very complex, and the products after recycling and processing are also diverse."
△ In March 2019, the GoodNet project initiated by International Vastration Union and the Marine Protection Organization was launched in Brazil .
In March 2019, International Volleyball Federation cooperated with the Marine Protection Organization (Ghost Diving) to launch the GoodNet project, using recycling fishing nets to make volleyball net , and subsequently beach volleyball championships in Hamburg, Germany and Rome, Italy, Italy, were put into use in events such as the beach volleyball championships, World Tour Finals, etc. Chilean company Bureo uses discarded fishing nets to make hats, which can reuse more than 30 tons of discarded fishing nets every year. The luxury brand Prada uses recycled old carpets, salvaged discarded fishing gear, and the scraps left over from making clothes to purify it, and launches a recycled nylon series, which has attracted widespread attention.
However, the recycling scale of waste fishing gear is insufficient and a complete industrial chain has not yet been formed. Ingrid Giskes, global head of the World Animal Conservation Association’s “Magic Changes in the Ocean” project, said businesses, governments and other stakeholders must recognize that ghost gear is a major issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
In addition to technical difficulties, the quality of the recycling of fishing gear is uneven, which also discourages many companies. Tunan said, "The fishing nets salvaged are usually covered with silt and algae. They need to be cleaned and classified before recycling, which requires a lot of manpower and capital investment and cannot cause secondary pollution."
Compared with the fishermen's independent recycling of fishermen is lower in cost, cleaner, and easier to deal with. However, due to the lack of environmental awareness and policy funding, fishermen are not very enthusiastic about participating in recycling.
"Fishers should not pay for the problems of the whole society." Tunan called on government agencies to introduce corresponding policies and provide appropriate economic subsidies to cultivate fishermen's awareness and habits from the correct use of fishing gear to active recycling, and encourage more enterprises to join the ranks of recycling, so that every link can be connected and every force can play its greatest value.
Secretary-General of the Green Circulation Committee of the China Environmental Protection Federation Jiang Nanqing said at the 2022 Marine Waste Fishing Net Recycling and Sustainable Development Jiaxing Forum that in order to achieve the recycling of waste fishing gear, it is necessary to establish a standard system to not only solve the problem of front-end recycling, but also solve the problem of high standards, high quality and high value reuse at the back-end.
Ingrid Giskes pointed out that people are seeking and taking effective solutions, but governments and industries still need to work together to effectively monitor and solve ghost fishing gear problems and jointly create a safer and cleaner ocean.
《China ASEAN Report》 Reporter: Guo Xixian
Editor: Yuan Yanan, Li Xiaolin
