UB88 nets finally being removed

[MaxBottomtime]

Great news!

'Ghost diving' to protect marine life: Meet the group behind the mission

A group of divers, marine biologists and underwater clean-up specialists are on a mission to protect marine life from abandoned fish nets that are trapping and harming ocean creatures.

abc7.com

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

What would be great is if they charged the commercial fishing boat that lost them a fine and the cost of cleanup. They should have to report a loss immediately and then pay for the retrieval.
Don’t some of those have tags on them to identify the operator?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Gillnets do, but the nets on the UB88 appear to be seine nets, not meant to be soaking for days at a time.

 

[rjack321]

What would be great is if they charged the commercial fishing boat that lost them a fine and the cost of cleanup. They should have to report a loss immediately and then pay for the retrieval.
Don’t some of those have tags on them to identify the operator?

Up here gear loss is "no fault" otherwise there's a strong disincentive to report any loss of fishing or crabbing gear. We have an extensive removal program, mostly grant funded. Derelict Gear | NWStraitsFoundation.org

 

[Celt]

The yearly loss figures for fishing gear, a recent study came out with are staggering.

• 78,000 sq km (30,000 sq miles) of purse seine nets and gillnets
• 215 sq km of bottom trawl nets
• 740,000 km (46,000 miles) of main long lines
• 15.5 million km (9.6m miles) of branch lines
• 13 billion longline hooks
• 25 million traps and pots

 

[Celt]

The yearly loss figures for fishing gear, a recent study came out with are staggering.

• 78,000 sq km (30,000 sq miles) of purse seine nets and gillnets
• 215 sq km of bottom trawl nets
• 740,000 km (46,000 miles) of main long lines
• 15.5 million km (9.6m miles) of branch lines
• 13 billion longline hooks
• 25 million traps and pots

Full report here,

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0135