Dear Subscriber First Name,

The GGGI team and members have been busy as the holiday season approaches! We have several updates to share with you from November and December, including our involvement in the recent INC-5 meeting held in Busan, South Korea, several signature project highlights from Mexico, member engagement events, and highlights from the following GGGI members: Healthy Seas Foundation, Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, OceansWide, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and the Myanmar Ocean Project. Finally, we welcome the most recent members to join the GGGI.

We love celebrating the success of our 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

The fifth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC-5) for developing an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (“the plastics treaty”), took place in Busan, South Korea from November 25 to December 1, 2024. Joining over 3,300 delegates – including Members representing more than 170 nations and Observers from more than 440 organizations – Ocean Conservancy’s delegation included Nick Mallos (Vice President of Conservation), Felipe Victoria (Senior Manager, International Plastics Policy), Anja Brandon (Associate Director of US Plastics Policy) and Hannah Pragnell-Raasch (GGGI’s Global Policy Lead). Throughout the INC process, we have been advocating for five key priorities for the treaty, including specific provisions across the full life cycle of plastic fishing and aquaculture gear to prevent and reduce the occurrence and impact of ghost gear - the most harmful form of marine plastic pollution. We worked directly with Member States on the treaty text language, providing technical guidance and expertise, and presented at a number of events taking place outside of the negotiations to highlight the unique opportunity that this treaty provides in addressing ghost gear in a holistic and globally coordinated framework.

A divergence in ambition was present throughout the week. On one side were delegations from oil- and plastic-producing countries that were arguing for a reduced treaty, while other were countries like Panama, Rwanda, and the High Ambition Coalition were advocating for stronger provisions that address the full lifecycle of plastics from production to disposal. During the closing plenary, it was decided that INC-5 would not be the final round of negotiations as initially intended. Instead, one more round, referred to as INC-5.2, would take place in 2025. INC-5.2 will include an agreement on a ‘Chair’s Text’ that will serve as the starting point for negotiations at the resumed session. Whilst it is disappointing that the finalization of the plastics treaty is being delayed, we will continue to work alongside Member States and observer organizations to ensure an ambitious treaty is reached that includes strong provisions across the full life cycle of plastics, including fishing gear. Read more here about Ocean Conservancy’s position on extending the INC negotiations.

ALDFG Workshop in La Paz, Mexico

Claudia Cecilia Olimon, GGGI Latin America project coordinator led a Best Practice Framework Workshop on November 28, 2024, as part of the 3rd Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Regional Festival held in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Claudia Cecilia Olimón, GGGI’s Project Coordinator for Latin America, presented and distributed Spanish versions of the A-BPF and C-BPF guidelines. The GGGI also invited main North American Net Collection Initiative (NANCI) partners to co-present on their contributions to this GGGI Signature Project. Topics included removals (ECO and COBI), recycling (Bureo and CEDO), advocacy (ICCF) and community-based ghost gear projects (Pesca ABC and Hagamos Mas).

Other workshop participants included NGOs such as TNC, CEDO, Niparaja, Isla, Cabet, WWF, EcoWeb, and ICPMX; officials from Mexican government departments IMIPAS-CRIAP, Sepesca, Sagarhpa, Conanp, and Peñasco Municipality; fishers from northwest Mexico; Cucopah tribal representatives; academics from UABCS, CICIMAR and CIBNOR; and others such Multiplasticos and Alumbra Innovaciones Foundation. The GGGI presented the Mexico ghost gear predictive model, with participants contributing by using Google Earth to indicate where additional ghost gear is known to exist. One key highlight of the event was an agreement signing between Bureo and Cedo to collect more end-of-life gear in the region.

35 Year-Old Seine Net Removed From La Paz

In November 2024, Claudia Cecilia Olimon, GGGI Latin America project coordinator collaborated with expert divers (COBI, ECO, Mar Libre, and ENI), and CONANP federal rangers from the National Marine Park Archipelago of Espiritu Santo to remove a large seine net lost over 35 years ago in La Paz Bay, Mexico. Members of the project team collaborated to survey the area, evaluate the feasibility of net removal, plan the strategy, and finally implement the removals via diving. The net was lying on a sandy and rocky bottom, and divers reached depths between 34 - 60m to conduct the removal. Diver released both dead and live animals from the 500kg net. The data collected from this event was contributed to the GGGI Data Portal to inform Mexico’s ghost gear predictive model for the 2025 update. The net was in good enough condition to be reused as a bio-barrier to prevent debris from reaching the sea during the rainy season.

Technology Pilot to Prevent Lobster Trap Loss in Punta Abreojos, Mexico

From June to November 2024, Claudia Cecilia Olimon, GGGI Latin America project coordinator supported work and collaborated with Buoy.Fish, FEDECOOP fishers from Punta Abreojos, and Pronatura to pilot gear tracking technology meant to reduce the loss of spiny lobster traps in Punta Abreojos, Mexico. The project leveraged two different tracking technologies built into Buoy.Fish’s smart floats - LoRaWAN and traditional GPS. Buoy.Fish led the delivery and deployment of 80 smart floats to fishers in Punta Abreojos, and led a fisher training workshop to provide users with an overview of ghost gear and how to use the Buoy.Fish technology. This work allowed fishers to track their gear in real time, reducing the chances of it being lost and accelerating the transition toward sustainable fishing.

GGGI Membership Specialist, Caitie Frenkel hosted the first Academic Focus group for the GGGI’s research focused members in November. This ~90 minute event provided space for participants to introduce themselves and share a short summary of their ALDFG research. Moving forward, the key purpose of this group will be to facilitate a conversation on ALDFG to help fill knowledge gaps, foster international collaboration, and provide a networking platform for the GGGI’s academic and research community. We hope to host these events quarterly to allow our academic members to keep up to date on each other’s work.

Senior Program Manager, Jaclyn McGarry, and Senior Program Specialist, Cyan Simmons, hosted Episode 10 of Let’s Talk Ghost Gear on “Let’s Talk Small Grants”. This episode followed a slightly different format, where instead of a panel discussion, Jackie and Cyan gave an overview to GGGI members on how to apply for the GGGI’s Small Grants Program. This was followed by a question and answer period with participating members. For GGGI members that were unable to attend, please reach out to either Jackie or Cyan for a recording of the session.

Healthy Seas Foundation

The Healthy Seas team recently hosted the webinar “Unveiling Ghost Farms: A Hidden Threat to Our Seas” to raise awareness about abandoned aquaculture facilities. During this webinar, Healthy Seas highlighted why these derelict facilities are an issue, showcased their team’s extensive cleanup efforts in Greece, reviewed specific challenges faced by communities in coastal Greece, and explored potential solutions. Healthy Seas were delighted by overwhelming interest and participation in their first webinar on the topic, and are planning to host a second webinar in February 2025 to after the release of their documentary on ghost farms. For more information on the webinar, please visit their blog. If you would like to be invited to the next webinar, please contact info@healthyseas.org.

Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP), is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the sensitive wildlife and critical habitats of the remote reefs, islands, and atolls within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument from the impacts of marine debris. ALDFG constitutes a significant portion of the debris found in this region. Over the past four years, PMDP has removed more than 1 million pounds of marine debris, 78% of which consisted of large derelict fishing nets. PMDP now has their sights set on the 2-million pound milestone, and will be seeking 6-8 marine debris technicians for its 2025 cleanup season. Interested applicants should apply between January 31 and February 17, 2025. For more information about the application process, please email james@pmdphawaii.org.

OceansWide

OceansWide is a youth marine education program based in the Gulf of Maine that helps educate students about their local marine environment while providing dive and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) training to expand their resumes. Their primary focus this last year was their Traps2Treasure program, where students are educated on ALDFG and assist in removal derelict traps from the Gulf of Maine. OceansWide also hosts a dive team that conducts regular derelict trap removals in the area. Traps that are in good conditions are returned to their owners, while the others are recycled. Since beginning operations in 2009, OceansWide has removed over 20,000 derelict traps from the Gulf of Maine. Learn more about their dive work in this article published by Maine Public Radio.

Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) published their report ‘Tackling ghost gear: research on and solutions for the state of harbour waste management in the UK’ in October, 2024. This report presents their findings from their survey of 41% of the 464 fishing harbours in the United Kingdom to understand their ability to manage fishing gear and waste, including end-of-life (EOL) fishing gear. WDC found inconsistent waste management practices and limited recycling amongst harbours depending on their size, resources, governance, and the availability of external collection initiatives. With this report, WDC hopes to fill knowledge gaps to improve the management of EOL fishing gear within the UK. Through this report, WDC aims to address knowledge gaps and enhance the management of EOL fishing gear in the UK by offering actionable recommendations for solutions.

Myanmar Ocean Project

Myanmar Ocean Project’s efforts to reduce ALDFG in Myanmar was recently recognized in the article ‘Abandoned ‘ghost gear’ kills sea life. A Myanmar nonprofit is turning the tide.’ published in November, 2024. The article interviews Thanda Ko Gyi, founder of the Myanmar Ocean Project, and GGGI Associate Director, Joel Baziuk, about Thanda’s path to learning about ALDFG, the founding of the organization, and the successes and challenges she has experienced while conducting this important work. To learn more about Myanmar Ocean Project’s recent work, please visit their website.

Fishing net clean up at a popular Bali dive site

‘It won’t make a difference for the entire Ocean, but for this part of the Ocean, it makes all the difference’.

Padang-Bai is a popular dive spot in Bali, offering something for divers of all levels, to explore Bali’s underwater world. Many tourists visit to enjoy Bali’s marine wonders, which range from small critters perfect for muck diving, to a mini wreck, and large schools of fish. Bali’s underwater landscape also features vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life, though some of these ecosystems are threatened by pollution from liquid and solid waste, as well as sediment runoff from land.

In Padang Bai, both an active fishing and tourism port coexist alongside popular dive sites. The clean-up operation was organised by Ocean Eye and AquaMarine Diving - Bali. AquaMarine Diving - Bali, which guides tourists to these dive sites, has committed to a monthly clean-up as part of an ‘adopt a site’ program. For this ghost gear focused activity their concern was particularly focused on the popular muck diving site, ‘The Jetty,’ which has become increasingly covered by fishing nets. The nets were destroying spectacular sea fan (Gorgonians) formations and smothering other critters and marine life, slowly destroying the site and its biodiversity. 

A team of 6 divers spent a day and three dives collecting fishing nets and ropes from this site. Due to the heavy weight, a proper lifting bag was used. Several different types of gillnets were recovered as well as other garbage that was littering the site. The fishing gear recovered weighed 80 kg in total.

Come Meet Us at SENA 2025!

The GGGI team will be attending the Seafood Expo North America (SENA) hosted in Boston in March, 2025. If you are also attending SENA and would like to meet up with the GGGI team, please contact Sara Pfiefer to coordinate.

Welcome To Our New GGGI Members!

The GGGI membership continues to grow! Please join us in welcoming our newest members, Marulho, the Okinawa Coastal Conservation Association Protection Alliance, and the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk! We look forward to working with them on ALDFG related matters.