Authors: Kelsey Richardson, Britta Denise Hardesty, Joanna Vince, Chris Wilcox
Published: 2022-10-12
Source: Full article
Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a major contributor to ocean pollution, with extensive social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, quantitative ALDFG estimates are dated and limited in scope. To provide current global estimates, we interviewed fishers around the world about how much fishing gear they lose annually and multiplied reported losses by global fishing effort data. We estimate that nearly 2% of all fishing gear, comprising 2963 km