Dear Subscriber First Name,

We are excited to share updates with you from September and October! The GGGI team has been actively hosting and attending various virtual events, overseeing projects, updating our data portal, and made updates to our Small Grants program for 2025. We also delighted to welcome our 24th member government to the GGGI - Australia! Finally, we have highlights from several of our members on the excellent work they’re doing on ALDFG around the world.

The GGGI loves celebrating the successes of its members. As always, if you have any ALDFG related news that you would like to share in the next newsletter, please email caitie@ghostgear.org

Australia has joined the GGGI, becoming the 24th country to officially do so. In her closing address to the Global Nature Positive Summit, Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, announced that Australia has joined the GGGI. The Australian government also announced that it will be investing $1.4 million (AUD) toward regional action on ghost nets in the Arafura and Timor Seas.

Learn more here.

We are thrilled to announce that applications for the latest round of the GGGI Small Grants Program opened on October 28, 2024! Open exclusively to GGGI members, this opportunity offers grants of up to $40,000 USD to fund innovative projects aimed at preventing and removing ALDFG from marine ecosystems. Past grantees have made significant strides in reducing ALDFG’s harmful impacts on marine ecosystems, and we're excited to see more groundbreaking solutions emerge, driving us to a healthier, more sustainable ocean worldwide.

The past couple of months has seen the convening of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 82nd Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 82) and the Sith Meeting of the Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML-6) for The Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA).

Taking place at IMO’s headquarters in London from 30th September through 4th October, GGGI’s Policy Specialist, Hannah Pragnell-Raasch and IMO Liaison, Estelle van der Merwe participated in MEPC 82 virtually. The week covered an ambitious agenda across a variety of issues including reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, enhancing energy efficiency of shipping, tackling marine litter (including ALDFG), ballast water management and underwater noise reduction. Whilst we were disappointed that no substantive action was taken or update was given for the provisions being considered on mandatory gear-marking and also lost-gear reporting, we welcomed The Committee’s instruction to the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (at its next session PPR 12) to review the Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships. GGGI will be working with Member States and Observer organizations to help ensure the issue of ALDFG is elevated and prioritized accordingly at PPR 12.

Hannah also participated virtually at WGML-6 which took place in Siem Reap, Cambodia on the 21st and 22nd of October. This regional meeting brought together COBSEA’snine Member States and additional Observer organizations to specifically discuss marine litter management from land-based and sea-based sources in the region, specifically including ALDFG. As such, there was a strong focus on COBSEA’s Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) as well as planning for the upcoming 5th Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, including the marine environment – the process of which GGGI has been proactively engaged in since the beginning. GGGI looks forward to continuing the collaboration with COBSEA to help support the regions’ work on ALDFG management from local action through to regional and international policy.

More about MEPC 82

More about COBSEA ICG ML

Membership Specialist, Caitie Frenkel, hosted a virtual roundtable for the GGGI’s European members to discuss the extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation coming to Europe in January 2025. The roundtable included scene setting presentations and  discussions on the EU standards relating to the circularity of fishing gear, the CEN-CENELEC Technical Committee 466 on the Circular Design of Fishing Gear, and how these policies might affect ALDFG originating from the aquaculture industry. GGGI members Claire Potter (Claire Potter Design, Environmental Coalition of Standards), Koen van Goethem (I-COATS), and Konstantinos Giannakopoulos (Enaleia) presented on each of these topics respectively. If you have an idea for another roundtable topic in the future, please reach out to caitie@ghostgear.org to share your thoughts.

Corporate Partnerships Manager, Sara Pfiefer, hosted Episode 9 of Let’s Talk Ghost Gear on “Working with the Seafood Industry on ALDFG: A Primer”. This episode followed a slightly different format, where instead of a panel discussion, Sara highlighted how she works with the GGGI’s seafood industry partners to reduce ALDFG in their supply chains. This was followed by a question and answer period. If you were unable to attend, please click here to watch the webinar on our YouTube channel.

On September 23, 2024 Ocean Conservancy published a blog post written by GGGI Senior Director, Ingrid Giskes titled ‘How Does Ghost Gear Affect Small Island Developing States’. In this blog post, Ingrid details her experiences working with local fishers on the island nation of Vanuatu, which relies heavily on fishing for its food security and economy. She details why small island developing states, or SIDS, like Vanuatu are particularly vulnerable to ALDFG impacts. With this in mind, she highlights how Ocean Conservancy and the GGGI are advocating for ALDFG to be included into the United Nations International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution (better known as the “Plastics Treaty”), which is currently under negotiation and entering the final scheduled session in November.

The GGGI was featured in the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter (GPML)’s Q3 newsletter published on September 18, 2024. This entry highlighted the support the GGGI provided to the development of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Marine Litter, particularly the section on marine sources of plastic pollution. GGGI Policy Specialist, Hannah Pragnell-Raach, also participated in a GPML webinar and discussed governance and policy approaches for ALDFG. Improvements to the GGGI Data Portal and the Ghost Gear Reporter App were also featured.

On September 16, 2024, The Decibel podcast (produced by The Globe and Mail) published an episode titled ‘The ‘ghost gear’ strangling Canada’s marine wildlife’. This episode discusses ALDFG in Canada and what is being done to ameliorate the issue, including the reporter’s experience talking to local experts for an article published earlier this year. This podcast episode features work done by GGGI members including the Emerald Sea Protection Society and Natural Resources Consultants. Additionally, the episode features research conducted by GGGI Membership Specialist, Caitie Frenkel on ALDFG along Canada’s West Coast.

Myanmar Ocean Project

Myanmar Ocean Project recently received funding from the ASEAN Blue Innovation Challenge to expand their MOP DROP (Myanmar Ocean Project, Disposal Rig for Ocean Plastic) program. This program began in 2023 with the intention to prevent ALDFG and its impacts by providing an at-sea pontoon collection site for local fishers to deposit their end-of-life fishing gear. These fishers spend anywhere from two weeks to four months at sea, so MOP DROP provides them an accessible deposit site without interfering with their regular fishing operations.

Once the ALDFG is deposited at the MOP DROP pontoon, Myanmar Ocean Project works with local market boats to transport the waste back to shore for appropriate disposal. MOP DROP was first piloted near Sitat Galet Village (within the Lampi National Marine Park) in 2023 and was followed by a larger operation near Langann Village (within the Langann Island Group Locally Managed Marine Area) in 2024.

This work has been highly successful, with 1,006 kg of both end-of-life gear and recovered ALDFG being deposited and recycled so far. Additionally, Myanmar Ocean Project has recently installed WiFi on their MOP DROP pontoons and have been providing drinking water filters to the fishers to increase the pontoons’ usability. Not only have fishers been depositing their end-of-life fishing gear at the pontoons, but they have also been bringing in any other ALDFG that they find while at sea. For example, a very small boat dragged in an approximately 200kg bundle of nets and rope that they found while fishing. Myanmar Ocean Project is very excited to be using their ASEAN funding to create a larger, more permanent MOP DROP pontoon in Lampi Marine Park next year. To keep up to date with MOP DROP, please follow Myanmar Ocean Project’s website.

Gorton’s Seafood Updates Aquaculture Best Practice Introductory Guide to Bahasa Indonesian

In October 2024, GGGI member Gorton’s Seafood translated the Introductory Guide on Aquaculture Gear Management into Bhasa Indonesian. This will be a very valuable resource when engaging with partners in Indonesia, as it is a country that relies heavily on aquaculture and fisheries for its food security and economy.

Lux Bio

Get ready to see a lot of glow sticks today as sales spike annually around Halloween. But did you know that glow sticks are also used by commercial fisheries to attract species like tuna and marlin? Unfortunately, glow sticks are single-use plastic and the chemicals inside have been found to be toxic to marine life.

Lux Bio is aiming to solve the issue by developing a compostable, non-toxic glow stick replacement powered with bioluminescence rather than toxic chemicals. They are beginning their first commercial fishing trials, and will be launching a Kickstarter for recreational glow sticks in April, 2025. To learn more visit their website and social media (@weareluxbio), or get in touch with the Lux Bio team.

CALIFORNIA SEA GRANT MARINE DEBRIS EXTENSION FELLOWSHIP

California Sea Grant and NOAA Marine Debris Program are soliciting applications for the NOAA Marine Debris Program - California Sea Grant Marine Debris Extension Fellow. The Marine Debris Extension Fellow will support the Marine Debris Program’s work in California and assist the Marine Debris Program and the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) with the planning and implementation of the next iteration of the OLS. The Extension Fellow will be mentored by the Marine Debris Program’s California Regional Coordinator (80%) and the CASG Marine Debris Research Associate (20%).

Growth in skills can be expected through workshop planning and facilitation, project management, coordination of multiple partners across various sectors, and exposure to both a small federal program mandated to lead the nation’s efforts to address marine debris and an applied research program that focuses on community engagement and co-production of knowledge to find solutions to coastal and ocean problems.

To learn more about this opportunity, click here.

Welcome To Our New GGGI Members!

The GGGI continues to expand its membership. Please join us in welcoming the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Ocean Space Acoustics to our initiative! We look forward to working with them to address ALDFG.