The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has released the latest data from their Ghost Gear Program which shows they’ve now removed 739 tonnes of derelict fishing equipment from Canadian coastlines.
To put the amount of gear collected in perspective the DFO says the equivalent weight of what’s been removed is equal to 231 full-size Zambonis.
The Ghost Gear Program was launched in 2019 and included the $8.3 million Ghost Gear Fund and an additional $10 million in funding was included in this year’s budget.
The actual collection of the ghost gear is done by partners of the program and the government assists in disseminating information and collecting data.
The DFO named 33 partners who helped in the latest round of ghost gear cleanup, most of the partners are either fishing or conservations groups.
British Columbia’s coastline has seen the most gear removed with 44 per cent coming from the west coast. The coast of Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy ranked second with 39 per cent. Other ghost gear collections took place on the Gulf of St. Lawrence (9 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (4 per cent) and Quebec (4 per cent).
To date, the program has collected 5,828 units of lost gear. Most of the gear retrieved —approximately 84 per cent—were traps or pots that are commonly used in lobster and crab fisheries, and the remaining 16 per cent was a combination of nets and longlines from various fisheries.
Derelict gear from non-operational aquaculture sites was also retrieved from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
With the Ghost Gear Program receiving more funding in this year’s budget the project will continue through 2022 at the least.
