Dear Subscriber First Name,

We hope that you have been enjoying your summer!

We are excited to share updates from both the GGGI team and members from the last two  months in this newsletter. The GGGI team has been active as always, participating in a variety of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events globally. We have hosted two Let’s Talk Ghost Gear webinars on End-of-life Solutions for ALDFG and ALDFG in Africa’s Great Lakes, which you can find on our YouTube channel. We also have some project updates from GGGI members Enaleia, Go Green Save the Environment Malawi, Mare Nostrum and TUNACONS. Finally, we are looking for applicants for our Expert Advisory Council! If you are interested in sharing your expertise with GGGI leadership, please contact caitie@ghostgear.org for more details.

As always, the GGGI community draws inspiration from the successes of its members! If you have news that you would like to share in the next newsletter, please contact caitie@ghostgear.org.

Sincerely,

The GGGI Team

Taking place at the Food and Agriculture (FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, the United Nations Committee on Fisheries (COFI) met for the 36th session on July 8th - 12th, bringing together global policymakers, experts and partners dealing with key issues affecting fisheries and aquaculture. Meeting every two years, COFI, a subsidiary body of the FAO Council, is the only global inter-governmental forum where FAO Members meet to consider the issues related to fisheries and aquaculture. GGGI Policy Specialist Hannah Pragnell-Raasch participated virtually joining more than 960 participants - almost 700 of whom were present in person - representing 110 COFI Members including the European Union, 21 COFI country observers, and 84 organizations.

As part of COFI’s Blue Transformation and vision for resilient, equitable and sustainable aquatic food systems, the latest State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report was presented during the proceedings and the Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) were formally adopted. Additionally, the issue of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) received considerable attention with Member States recognizing the urgency of addressing ALDFG to safeguard the sustainability and future of our fisheries and aquaculture systems. The importance of continued participation in other international fora considering ALDFG was also highlighted including at INC and IMO, promoting the need for cohesion and complementarity across different international frameworks.

The agenda also included sessions on IUU fishing, integrated water resources management, impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture, implications for fisheries and aquaculture in global biodiversity framework and agreements, and marine plastic pollution including ALDFG.

Hosted by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sri Lanka, the National Hybrid Conference on Abandoned, Lost or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear took place on July 30th, 2024. GGGI’s Joel Baziuk and Hannah Pragnell-Raasch joined representatives from government agencies, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and private sector participating in the virtual event aimed to:

1. Disseminate information on the nature and impacts of ALDFG from Sri Lankan fisheries;

2. Review existing actions in place to manage ALDFG and EOL gear

3. Identify options and opportunities for change;

4. Review the challenges and feasibility of delivering specific options;

5. Determine the next steps in developing a network and collaborative initiatives to prevent ALDFG and and manage EOL gear in Sri Lanka.

As ALDFG has been identified as a national priority for Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Fisheries have formed a National Steering Committee on ALDFG, fostering collaboration and alignment on implementing measures to prevent, mitigate and remediate ALDFG.

On June 18, American Seafoods in Seattle welcomed more than 60 volunteers from within the company and its many partner organizations, including GGGI member’s Ocean Legacy Foundation and Gorton’s Seafood. Gorton’s Seafood sponsored the GGGI’s participation in the event, and we were represented by Partnership’s Manager Sara Pfiefer. Volunteers disassembled two full midwater trawls and 10 bags of ghost gear in just under seven hours. In total, 38 supersacks and 20,000lbs of single material plastics, a 40 yd container full of mixed plastics, and several thousand pounds of steel chain were processed for disposal. The mixed plastics were used for energy recovery, and all broken-down net plastics from the event were loaded onto a truck for processing at the Ocean Legacy Foundation in British Columbia, Canada.

On August 15th and 16th, the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO) - founded in 2003 by legal industry members to eliminate Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing for Patagonian Toothfish in the Antarctic region, and to ensure the long term sustainability of Toothfish resources - held a workshop in Oslo, Norway to discuss ways to reduce gear loss in the Patagonian Toothfish longline fishery. Representatives from many of COLTO’s fishing companies, skippers, technology companies, gear manufacturers, government representatives and NGOs all gathered to discuss what the main causes of gear loss are, what is being done to mitigate gear loss currently, what best practices could be adopted to further prevent loss, and what options are available for end-of-life disposal.

GGGI Associate Director Joel Baziuk gave a presentation on current best practices in the ALDFG space as well as laying out potential opportunities and challenges for end-of-life disposal of gear. GGGI congratulates COLTO on their forward-thinking outlook when it comes to mitigating ALDFG in their fishery, and we hope other similar organizations may follow suit in the future.

On August 21st, 2024, representatives from various Mexican federal and state government agencies, academia, and NGOs gathered in Mexico City, hosted by the Mexico Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss strategies to strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration and address the challenges associated with ghost fishing gear. The GGGI presented on our signature NANCI project and on the first Mexico's ghost gear predictive model.

Click here to view the official press release and learn more.

The GGGI Expert Advisory Council exists to provide technical, commercial and governance judgment to the GGGI Leadership. The Expert Advisory Council is not a decision-making body and is not concerned with the management of GGGI processes. Rather, it provides expert information and opinion to assist the GGGI Leadership and the outputs of the GGGI. The GGGI EAC is made up of a diverse group of individuals whose experience and perspectives help guide GGGI’s efforts across the globe.

We are currently soliciting applications for additional members of the EAC with a due date of September 16th, 2024. For additional details on working with the EAC or the application process, please reach out to GGGI Membership Specialist Caitie Frenkel (caitie@ghostgear.org).

Episode 7: Solutions for End-of-Life Fishing Gear

Episode 7 of Let’s Talk Ghost Gear, focused on Solutions for End-of-Life Fishing Gear, featured ~10-minute presentations from GGGI members from around the world. These presentations were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Joel Baziuk, GGGI Associate Director where presenters answered questions from the audience and had an open discussion on the topic.

Panelists:

• Chloé Dubois – Co-founder and Executive Director, Ocean Legacy Foundation

• Ben Kneppers –Co-founder and COO, Bureo

• Maja Löwedey – COO, Bracenet

• Veronika Mikos – Director, Healthy Seas Foundation

•  Rob Thompson – Director, Odyssey Innovation

Episode 8: ALDFG in Africa’s Great Lakes

Episode 8 of our Let’s Talk Ghost Gear webinar series took a more regional approach and focused on issues of abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear in Africa’s freshwater ecosystems. This episode featured ~10 minute presentations from presenters working in Africa’s great lakes, including Lake Victoria, Lake Kivu, and Lake Malawi. These presentations were followed by a question and answer period, moderated by GGGI Membership Specialist, Caitie Frenkel.

Panelists:

• Mutumba Faisal – Founder, Uganda Junior Rangers

• Moffat Mandio – Founder and CEO, Go Green Save the Environment Malawi

• Festus Massaho - Executive Director, Blue Victoria

• Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye – Projects Manager, Action Pour l'Education et la Défense des Droits Humains

Enaleia

Over the course of 9 months, Enaleia was able to remove more than 75 tons of ALDFG from Greece and Egypt. This work was completed with support from Ocean Conservancy and the GGGI. The Enaleia team partnered with local authorities, municipalities, volunteers, and professional divers in both countries to remove ALDFG, and other marine plastic, and prepare the materials for waste handling facilities to sort and process. Visit their Instagram page (@Enaleia) to learn more!

TUNACONS

As of 2020, TUNACONS is committed to replacing 20% of the FADs (fish aggregating devices) it uses with prototypes made of 100% biodegradable material in order to minimize marine pollution. TUNACONS has also joined the tuna industry and artisanal sector of CORPAG in the Cuidando Galapagos Initiative, to assist in two ghost gear programs: 1) underwater and coastal marine debris collection (including ALDFG), and 2) collecting FADs that strand near the coasts of the islands. Since 2022, 40 FADs and more than 2,000 tons of garbage have been collected through these programs. Additionally, TUNACONS has been collaborating with artisanal fishers over the last 3 years to clean mangroves in mainland Ecuador, working with FENACOPEC to collect more than 50 tons of garbage including fishing gear. Nearly 400 tons of end-of-life fishing nets from TUNACONS’ members were given a second life through recycling programs with various partners, including Redes de América, ALPESCAS, and Bureo, with recycling work continuing into the future.

Mare Nostrum

Mare Nostrum held a kick-off meeting on August 14th and 15th for their new BlackNETs project to identify the timeline of activities and next steps with their project partners. This project is funded by the European Union via the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme. The project officially started on June 27, and aims to work with 4 different organizations around the Black Sea to remove up to 8,000kg of ghost gear and find end-of-life solutions. While the GGGI was not able to attend in-person, Membership Specialist Caitie Frenkel provided pre-recorded presentations introducing the GGGI and the Data Portal and Ghost Gear Reporter App. This will help Mare Nostrum’s project partners learn how to report the ALDFG they collect to the Data Portal, further contributing to our global understanding of the issue.

Go Green Save The Environment (GGSE)

Go Green Save the Environment Malawi (GGSE) is implementing a ghost gear project in the Nkhata-Bay district, Malawi with support from the GGGI. Since the program began in May 2023, GGSE has accomplished: awareness campaigns, ALDFG collection, and stakeholder engagement conversations. This project has increased fisher and community awareness around local ALDFG issues, including the environmental harm caused by lost monofilament nets and why they are therefore illegal to fish with, increasing ALDFG collection effectiveness. The cross-stakeholder collaboration fostered through GGSE’s ghost gear project has also assisted the ability of the Nkhata-Bay fisheries department’s monitoring program, which assisted a recent arrest of a group of illegal fishers using monofilament nets in Lake Malawi.

Below is a quote from one of the fishermen participating in GGSE’s ghost gear project from Kachenga Village in Nkhata-Bay:

“My name is Maxwell Banda, 35 years old, I was born in this village and grew up here. I started fishing activities while young and I learnt from my parents, all along, we have been using these illegal nets without realizing that they are not good to use and that there are danger to our environment until the time when GGSE came with their initiative of collecting abandoned fishing gears to my village, that is when I came to realize that as fisherman I need to change my approach, and since the time I got this good news from GGSE I have been using the legal fishing gears and I always take care of the remains of my fishing gears when there are worn or finish. From my area where I come from, all fishermen have agreed to pack well all our worn nets and other fishing gears and pack them at Go Green collection Point. This has been going very well and with help from village chief and Beach committees, I promise this will continue in future. Thank you GGSE for the initiative.”

Welcome To Our New GGGI Members!

The GGGI continues to grow its international presence. We would like to welcome 3 new members: Action Pour l'Education et la Défense des Droits Humains Rwanda (APEDDH), The Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO), and the International Whaling Commission (IWC)!