What is a Ghost Net?
Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been lost accidentally, deliberately discarded, or simply abandoned at sea. They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides continually fishing as they progress through the waters. As they are unattended and roaming, they fish indiscriminately, not only catching threatened species but undersized and protected fish as well.
Did you Know?
The largest nets found in the Gulf of Carpentaria so far are Taiwanese gill nets estimated at weighing as much as 5 tonnes which would measure when stretched out approximately 4 kilometres in length with a drop of 12mts. Damian White, WWF
In other parts of the world nets have been reported 2-3 times this size.
What is the Carpentaria Ghost Net Programme?
“The Ghost Net Project is for people from (Indigenous) communities all around the Gulf of Carpentaria to find ways to work together to get rid of marine debris in their sea country.” Djawa Yunupingu, Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation
In Northern Australia Indigenous Sea Rangers noted that many turtles were being captured in ghost nets that were washing up on the beaches. As much of this coastline is the breeding and foraging ground for 6 culturally and ecologically important species of marine turtle there was a real concern that so many were getting trapped and dying.
The Rangers collaborated with other non-government organisations, calling themselves “the saltwater people”; a name which recognises the shared concerns & custodianship for marine wildlife. The project is managed by the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group (NGRMG) who received $A2M over a three year period from the Natural Heritage Trust, which is an Australian Government initiative to address issues relating to the management of our natural resources.
The aim of the project is three fold:
- To clean up the coastline in the Gulf of Carpentaria of existing nets to stop them re-entering the ocean,
- To collect useful information about these nets to assist negotiations by various parties in stopping fishing nets becoming Ghost Nets, &
- Capacity building of Indigenous Rangers to continue work on ghost nets beyond the life of this project.
More information about the programme see About
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