Canada’s New Nature Strategy: The Ghost Gear Fund is Reinstated!

To distract myself from the hundreds of jellyfish stings I’ve collected, I consider how our minds resemble dynamics of land and sea. We navigate the conscious surface, aware of immediate thoughts and decisions, yet beneath lies a vast, unseen subconscious, guiding much of our mental life. The ocean is like our subconscious: vast, deep, mysterious, and often hidden from direct perception.

Last week, I impulsively decided to get my PADI open water scuba certification. Freediving is one of my most beloved hobbies; however, it has its limitations with ocean restoration work. Kelp restoration, coral restoration, underwater cleanups, invasive species removal are all made more efficient through scuba diving. So, despite being terrible with technology and really good at breaking things, I took the leap and finished the course.

One of my main environmental motivators is being able to take part in underwater cleanups across the Surfrider network. Plastics are made up of a diversity of resins, some of which are more buoyant than saltwater or freshwater, and others are less buoyant and sink. So, a portion of the 10-12 million metric tonnes of marine debris enters the ocean and stays there, and another floating portion is expelled by the ocean onto coastlines.

Within the umbrella of submerged and floating marine debris, there is a specific deadly type. Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, colloquially known as ghost gear, can contribute to two thirds of all marine debris collected during beach cleanups. Globally it is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tonnes of ghost gear enter the oceans on an annual basis.

Its insidiousness is captured in the name: ghost gear continues to catch, harm and even kill fish and other marine species, including seals, sea turtles, sea lions, whales, sea stars, crabs and seabirds. Unfortunately, even just the incidents we find out about are all too common. In 2020, fishermen discovered two whales entangled in rope from abandoned crab pots in Petty Harbour and Placentia Bay in Newfoundland. Ghost gear is a nightmare that keeps on giving through the negative cycle of self baiting: where caught animals die, which attracts scavengers, who are then met with the same untimely ending. According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)’s gear reporting system, there was 86,000 animals found ensnared in derelict gear between 2020 and 2023. While these macabre occurrences can and are reduced to statistics, each situation is heartbreaking and should have been prevented.

Submerged marine debris, including ghost gear, can also damage seafloor habitats and obstructs the productivity of these habitats, from coral gardens to eelgrass meadows, including photosynthetic processes. Of course, plastic marine debris also breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics. Wildlife can consume macro and microplastics, which also causes harm and disruption to physiological processes. Recent studies suggest ghost fishing gear accounts for up to 70% of all macroplastics in the ocean by weight (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2023).

What causes ghost gear? An article in The Conversation points to research that “Research suggests that gear losses are the result of environmental conditions, gear conflicts among fishers and other industries, poor gear condition and inappropriate disposal at sea. Lost gear can be transported long distances by tides and currents, resulting in tangles (called snarls), which can be hard to relocate and retrieve. Losses can be accidental, but inappropriate discarding of gear at sea also occurs due to inefficient and inadequate solid waste management for end-of-life fishing gear.”

The ocean is knows no boundaries. Ghost gear lost in one region will travel. Recently, I was surfing at home in Tofino, and a buoy with a rope attached to it bobbed up and down towards me. Appearing innocent and oblivious, yet a symptom of a much larger systemic failure. Once again, I paddled awkwardly to shore with my find and complete the routine task of putting the debris in the back of my pickup truck. I wish I could collect all of the ghost gear in the world on my surfboard and pack it into my truck in this same way. That would be a dream, but it’s not possible. It’s going to take many of us, and a significant national and global intervention.

So, what can we do to address this problem?

Currently, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has mandatory lost gear reporting for all commercial fisheries operating under DFO-issued licences in Canada. Harvesters are encouraged to use the Fishing Gear Reporting System (FGRS), a tool developed by DFO specifically for this purpose. Lost gear reports help DFO identify gear loss hotspots and prioritize high-risk areas for retrieval efforts.

Additionally, DFO is constructing a Ghost Gear Action Plan to combat abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear. They’re currently in the process of drafting the plan based on feedback from First Nations, industry, local governments, and nonprofits - which Surfrider Canada is participating in. The action areas of the plan include risk reduction measures, ghost gear retrieval, reporting, storage and disposal, and traceability for the full life cycle of fishing gear. These measures will inform ghost gear regulations and policies as part of the plan.

In this process, Surfrider is advocating for ambitious measures, including establishing extended producer responsibility (EPR) for fishing and aquaculture gear across Canada, so that producers are accountable for the full life cycle of their products - from design to sale to end-of-life collection. EPR is already being rolled out under the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, which now requires Member states to implement EPR programs for fishing gear containing plastic (as of January 1, 2025), meaning manufacturers and sellers must finance and manage collection and recycling systems to reduce marine pollution.

We’ve also advocated for the reinstatement of the Ghost Gear Fund. When I wrote the first draft of this blog on the morning of March 31, I lamented about how Canada did not have a plan to reinstate the Ghost Gear Fund, which was active from 2020 to 2024 to clean hot spots, pilot innovations, build collection and recycling capacity. To address this problem, we supported MP Gord Johns’ petition to the House of Commons, sponsored by Ocean Legacy Foundation, which called for dedicated funding for retrieval, prevention, repair and recycling of ghost gear.

Yesterday evening, I went back online and saw the very kismet news: Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a new Nature Strategy to protect Canada’s environment, infusing efforts with $3.8 billion dollars. Among the many exciting measures, from the creating of 14 new marine protected and conserved areas to advancing Indigenous-led conservation work, the government also announced the reinstatement of the Ghost Gear Fund!

More details are yet to be released, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the fund. In the meantime, thank you to the thousands of people who signed the petition at our beach cleans, events, and online - WE DID IT!

As always, we’d love to have you join us at our next cleanups to remove ghost gear from the environment! Our next underwater cleanup is being hosted by Surfrider Pacific Rim in partnership with Emerald Sea Society, the Ucluelet Aquarium, District of Tofino and Tourism Tofino under the 1st Street Dock in Tofino on April 25 from 10 am to 1 pm!

You can see our regular shoreline cleanup calendar here: https://surfrider.ca/events

To volunteer to advocate for solutions through our campaigning efforts, email me at lwoodbury@surfrider.ca!