Ghost Gear

You avoid plastic straws and water bottles to save our oceans. But are you contributing to the most widespread and deadliest pollution of all?

Discarded fishing gear, or ghost gear, is the most harmful type of ocean pollution, indiscriminately killing fish, whales, sea turtles, dolphins, seals and seabirds.

Unlike other pollution, fishing gear is specifically designed to catch marine animals. Once discarded, ghost gear continues to catch and kill animals by entanglement and ingestion.

As many as 1 million abandoned lobster traps litter the bottom of Long Island Sound.

An animal caught by ghost gear dies slowly by suffocation or exhaustion.  As the dead animal decays, it attracts other animals, who then get caught in the trap, continuing the deadly cycle for decades.

Locally, as many as 1 million abandoned lobster traps litter the bottom of Long Island Sound. Many were just abandoned by fishermen after the crash of the lobster industry in 1999. Recent removal efforts in New York found live crabs, fish and lobsters, including pregnant females, languishing inside the abandoned traps.

More than 100 million pounds of plastic from fishing gear pollute our oceans each year.

In March, a new federal budget bill included $569,000 to Connecticut fishermen to clean up their own mess. Initial plans call for the retrieval of 3,000 lobster traps or 0.3% of the estimated 1M lobster traps they left on the bottom of the Sound.

The plastic in discarded fishing gear can last up to 600 years, continuing to catch and kill animals until it breaks down into microplastics that contaminate our oceans. In addition to killing animals, ghost gear damages marine habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and salt marshes. Floating gear spreads invasive species and transports toxins and chemical pollutants.

A recent study found that more than 100 million pounds of plastic from fishing gear pollute our oceans each year. “Environmental” organizations recommend costly studies in order to develop future strategies to stop ghost gear. If all goes well, they say, we may someday be able to save some animals “with commercial value” so that they can be slaughtered properly by fishermen.

Or…maybe we could just stop fishing.

Fishermen slaughter over a trillion lives each year, polluting our waters and destroying underwater ecosystems. You can live a long, happy and healthy life without eating marine life.

Live vegan to save marine life and the oceans they call home.