Ghost Gear Fund application guidelines

On this page

• Overview
• Who can apply
• Eligible activities
• Project funding
• Eligible expenses
• Application process
• Acceptable application format
• Evaluation process and selection Criteria
• Contacts

Overview

The Ghost Gear Fund encourages Canadians to take actions to reduce plastic in the marine environment through several streams of action. To date, these have included projects to retrieve abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG, or ‘ghost gear’) during closed fishing times, solutions for the disposal of fishing related plastic waste and ALDFG, acquiring and piloting of innovative gear technology for use in Canadian fisheries, and supporting international work in high-risk areas to reduce ghost fishing and ALDFG.

As part of A Force of Nature: Canada's Strategy to Protect Nature, $15 million over three years is being provided to modernize the location, prevention, retrieval and disposal of Ghost Gear.

Who can apply

Eligible recipients under the Ghost Gear Fund include:

• Not-for-profit and charitable organizations, Canadian or International
• Companies, businesses, organizations, associations, Canadian or International
• Indigenous organizations/communities*
• Recognized research, academic, and educational institutions
• Other levels of government and their agencies or crown corporations
• Individuals

The Government of Canada has introduced new policies to protect, build and transform Canadian industries through its Buy Canadian Policy. This policy is designed to help make Canada’s economy stronger, more resilient to global shocks, and better able to support Canadian workers and businesses. We encourage proponents to adopt the principles of the Buy Canadian Policy in their proposals for funding. 

*Indigenous organizations/communities include:

• First Nations/ Inuit/ Métis
• Bands/Settlements (land, reserves, trusts)
• Indigenous governments referred to in a self-government or modern treaty
• Indigenous communities or groups
• District Councils/Chiefs’ Councils/ Tribal Councils
• Organizations/ Societies/ Associations/ Institutions that are Indigenous led and/or serve an Indigenous population)
• Corporations (major shareholder is Indigenous)

Eligible activities

Eligible activities under the program will be considered from applicants active in, or proposing work associated with research, development, management, conservation, harvesting, protection or promotion of fisheries and oceans resources and related issues. These include activities aimed at improving fisheries management and sustainability, and activities designed to prevent and mitigate ghost fishing and the occurrence of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG, or ‘ghost gear’).

Proposed activities must align with one or more of the following three pillars:

• Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ghost gear) retrieval
• Responsible disposal
• Gear acquisition and/or development of innovative technologies

Note: ALDFG Retrieval projects will be focused outside of active fishing seasons.

The funding program supports a range of activities to support the improvement of fisheries management and sustainability and the prevention and mitigation of marine litter. Eligible activities are as follows:

• Training, skills development
• Collaborative planning, consultation and engagement – bilateral / multilateral / aggregate
• Public and community outreach, education, capacity building and engagement
• Project monitoring and evaluation activities
• Policy analysis, development and input
• Developing, piloting and/or adoption of innovative technology and processes for existing fisheries
• Developing, piloting and/or adoption of sustainable fishing and ALDFG mitigating practices;
• Improving the administration and management of marine and freshwater habitats
• Supporting and building capacity for ALDFG retrieval efforts of marine and freshwater habitat
• Developing, promoting and supporting sustainable fishing practices that will reduce lost gear
• Supporting, building or expanding capacity to receive, store, remove and dispose/recycle ALDFG and end-of-life gear (e.g. collection depots or networks, recycling capacity etc.)

Activities not listed are ineligible for funding through the Ghost Gear Fund.

Project funding

As was the case in previous rounds of funding, the amount successful projects will receive is varied and will depend on proposed project activities, expenses and expected contributions to the objectives of the program.

Funding overview

• Total funding: $15M over 3 fiscal years (2026–2027 to 2028–2029)
• Eligible projects: Single-year and multi-year projects
• Up to $5M will be available in 2026–2027. Due to the limited time available within the fiscal year, and based on an assessment of project proposals, some funding may be reallocated to 2027–2028 and/or 2028–2029 if priority work cannot be adequately addressed in 2026-2027.
• This call for proposals is for projects starting in the 2026–2027 fiscal year. Funding for projects beginning in future years will be reserved and offered through annual calls for proposals.
• Typical Ghost Gear Fund support can be expected in the range of $50,000 to $500,000. The recommended maximum funding is $500,000 per year. Multi-year agreements are subject to the same annual recommended maximum (e.g., Year 1: up to $500,000, Year 2: up to $500,000, Year 3: up to $500,000).
• All funds must be spent by March 31st of the year in which they are allocated and cannot be carried forward. For multi-year projects, funding for each year will be outlined in the contribution agreement.

Details on projects funded to date: Funded projects.

Eligible expenses

Eligible costs include reasonable and properly itemized costs, directly related to the eligible program activities, for:

• Salaries, wages, and other labour expenses including benefits and insurance
• Professional, contracted and technical services (includes travel costs)
• Costs associated with recycling and/or disposal of marine litter and/or ALDFG
• Appropriate liability insurance, related to project activities;
• Building, construction, and or other associated infrastructure cost
• Printing, production and publishing
• Conferences and meetings
• Travel and related expenditures based on the National Joint Travel Directive
• Office lease or rent, associated with approved activities
• Training and expenses
• Purchase/rental/lease of equipment, vessels, vehicles, supplies and materials
• Communications and distribution
• Consumable equipment and supplies used during approved activities
• Maintenance and life-cycle management
• Electronic equipment and software
• Costs incurred in carrying out an Audit in association with the agreement
• Monitoring and reporting
• Administrative overhead (e.g. phone, fax, internet, bank fees, utilities, office supplies); to a maximum of 15% of total project costs
• Ceremonial costs including services, where the funding recipient is an Indigenous group that:
  • Possesses Indigenous knowledge relevant to the initiative
  • Where the recipient provides services to support consultation on impacts on potential or established rights or title
• GST or HST paid that is not eligible for reimbursement or exemption
• Other costs that directly support improving fisheries management and sustainability with an emphasis on prevention and mitigation of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, domestically and abroad, pre-approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) not to exceed 10% of total eligible costs

Application process

Due to Government of Canada policy, communication with applicants regarding proposal status during the project review and selection phase is prohibited until the final administrative approvals have been granted. All eligible applicants will receive an email confirmation noting receipt of application and an official funding decision notification letter. Negotiation of funding agreements will follow with successful applicants. No funding is guaranteed until a contribution agreement is signed by both parties, and any expenditures incurred prior to the signing of a contribution (or grant) agreement is at the applicant’s risk.

Proposals must meet all of the program’s requirements to be considered for funding. Project proposals must be submitted to DFO.GGFund-Fonddesef.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca by Monday, June 29, 2026, by 23:59 PDT to be considered. The submission of a proposal does not guarantee funding.

Acceptable application format

The submitted application must be written in Word (.docx) or PDF (.pdf). If supporting documentation is presented, they can be submitted in Word (.docx), JPEG (.jpeg), Excel (.xlsx), or PDF (.pdf).

Evaluation process and selection criteria

Completed applications will be reviewed once the call for proposal period has closed. Funding decision notification letters will be distributed to applicants by Friday, September 4, 2026. Incomplete proposals will not be considered for funding.

Please note that meeting all requirements for funding does not guarantee funding.

This specific funding provides an opportunity to focus on three pillars of action: to support ALDFG retrieval, responsible disposal of ALDFG, and to support development, acquisition and piloting of innovative gear technology.

To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate that they are an eligible recipient of funding and that the project they are proposing falls within the acceptable eligible activities.

Note that a preference will be given to projects that:

• Encourage the development and promotion of sustainable fishing practices and technologies which help reduce gear loss and/or strengthen gear retrieval practices;
• Retrieve gear in areas with the highest gear loss rates reported to Fisheries and Oceans Canada and/or known fishing gear interactions with species at risk
• Solutions which facilitate the long-term management and responsible disposal of end-of-life fishing and ghost gear
• Clearly demonstrate Indigenous leadership or partnership in their planning, development, and/or implementation

DFO will assess all projects based on:

• the eligibility of the applicant to receive funding
• the eligibility of the proposed activities
• the geographic location of the work of proposed activities
• that the proposal clearly addresses the program’s prioritized objective(s) and pillars
• the overall quality and feasibility of the proposed project;
• clearly articulated and detailed work plans
• reasonable and detailed proposal for costs
• the experience of the project team, including details of partners involved in the work
• proposed methods for reaching the objectives of the project and a clear plan for assessing and measuring success
• the potential for ongoing actions beyond the timeframe of the project

The preferred range of project funding per year is between $50,000 and $500,000 for both single and multi-year projects.

For each pillar, prioritized actions or activities have been identified that are intended to support progress in addressing ALDFG. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and proposals that demonstrate they meet the programs eligibility may be funded that do not fall within the actions and activities listed below.

Program pillars

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) retrieval

Priority actions or activities: DFO is seeking to fund measures or activities to assist in the retrieval of ALDFG, such as the following:

• Activities that reduce known threats to listed Species at Risk, for example in the Gulf of St. Lawrence which is a known habitat for North Atlantic right whales and have a documented entanglement in ghost gear
• Areas of high loss as reported to DFO through lost gear reports
• Known areas of concern established through histories of commercial and recreational gear loss or abandonment, supplemented by local and Indigenous knowledge

Disposal

Priority actions or activities: DFO is seeking to fund measures or activities related to the responsible disposal of ALDFG and end-of-life fishing gear, such as the following:

• Projects that develop stronger disposal capacity by supporting, building or expanding infrastructure, partnerships, and logistics to ensure timely, efficient, and environmentally responsible disposal of abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) and end-of-life gear
• Projects focused on building a self-sustaining system for fishing gear waste management, including accessible collection points supported by cost-recovery mechanisms
• Projects that establish responsible disposal capacity in remote areas
• Projects that prepare retrieved gear for recycling (cleaning, separating, coordinate shipping, etc.)
• Education and outreach to industry, Indigenous communities, operators and the public on the importance of proper end-of-life fishing gear disposal

Gear acquisition and/or development of innovative technologies

Priority actions or activities: DFO is seeking to fund measures or activities to assist in the development, piloting and/or acquisition of fishing gear or gear retrieval technology through projects that:

• Advance gear‑tracking technologies to prevent gear loss by supporting the development of new technologies, the piloting of existing or emerging technologies in Canadian fisheries, and/or the acquisition of technologies already proven effective within a fishery for commercial use
• Advance gear retrieval and mapping technologies to support effective recovery of lost fishing gear by supporting the development of new tools, the piloting of existing or emerging technologies in Canadian fisheries, and/or the acquisition of technologies already proven effective for gear retrieval operations
• Advance technologies or gear components that mitigate the environmental, ecological, or operational impacts of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) by supporting the development of new mitigation technologies or gear components, the piloting of existing or emerging technologies or gear components in Canadian fisheries, and/or the acquisition of technologies or gear components already proven effective in reducing ALDFG impacts
• Advance gear‑marking options to improve identification, traceability, and accountability by supporting the development of new marking methods or technologies and the piloting of innovative or alternative marking approaches in Canadian fisheries
• Advance the exploration of alternative tagging materials and methods for fishing gear by supporting the development and piloting of durable, environmentally responsible tagging materials or methodologies that improve traceability while reducing environmental impacts

Contacts

For additional information on the funding program please e-mail: DFO.GGFund-Fonddesef.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.