Ghost Gear Retrieval Program
As an organization, we are fully committed to limiting the impact of our fishery on the marine environment. Lost fishing gear, known as "ghost gear" continues to "fish" meaning that marine life can become trapped, eventually die, and become bait for other animals, hence the term "ghost fishing". Not only does ghost gear tangle active gear which goes on to create more ghost gear, but it also has a detrimental impact on marine habitat because the decomposition of modern synthetic fishing gear at sea releases microplastics which can cause additional impacts on marine life.
Ghost gear can also result in entanglements of marine animals such as whales, leading to injury or death. Over the past two decades, Fundy North fishermen have gone from identifying the need for mitigating ghost gear, to developing specialized grapnels for removing ghost gear and the successful completion of numerous retrieval projects. Ghost gear retrieval requires specialized skills to operate the grapnels, and it can be extremely dangerous. We wish to thank our participating harvesters for their interest and investment in this program they often volunteer their time and resources to support this work. Through their efforts, a great deal of ghost gear has been retrieved from the waters of the Bay of Fundy to protect fishing habitat and marine life.
In our current and future work, we are looking to further identify hot spots for gear loss, refine our grapnel design to target more diverse habitats for retrieval, and expand our work towards ghost gear prevention and repurposing old gear.
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​Donations from the public are appreciated. All proceeds go directly to supporting program activities.If you wish to contribute, or you would like up to date information on quantities of gear retrieved, please contact us at info@fundynorth.org.​
