Fishing Gear Pollution in the North Atlantic

Statistics show that approximately 8,000 metric tons of discarded commercial fishing nets end up sinking into the waters of the North Atlantic each year. This “ghost gear” has become the primary cause of entanglement, injury, and even death among whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Traceability studies have identified two primary sources of this pollution: first, following Iceland’s resumption of commercial whaling, large quantities of old and damaged fishing nets and gear generated during the hunt are being indiscriminately discarded into the ocean; second, fishing vessels from multiple countries engaged in distant-water fishing are illegally dumping damaged gear while at sea.