Successes and results

Ghost Gear Fund highlights

Gear retrieval statistics to date (as of February 2024)

3,200 at-sea, shoreline and aquaculture trips
35,329 units of gear retrieved (excludes rope)
857 km of rope retrieved
A total of 2,214 tonnes retrieved including fishing gear and aquaculture debris (excludes rope and buoys)

Return of gear through the Fund (as of February 2024)

If the owner of retrieved gear can be identified, they are contacted to inform them that their gear has been recovered. Owners are then given the option to collect their gear or relinquish ownership.
Gear successfully returned to owner: 2,558
Total number of gear matched to harvester: 4,276

New recycling depot in Ucluelet, British Columbia

In 2020, a recycling depot specifically designed for ocean plastics, including end-of-life fishing gear was built in Ucluelet, B.C. The recycling depot is now operational and turning ghost gear plastic into plastic pellets that will be used in the manufacturing of secondary plastic products, including kayaks. Additional fishing gear recycling opportunities are being developed in Powel River, B.C.

Nootka Sound ghost gear cleanup project

Fisheries and Oceans Canada partnered with the Coastal Restoration Society and local First Nations to remove abandoned shellfish aquaculture sites across Vancouver Island.

Nootka Sound Ghost Gear Cleanup Project - YouTube

Gear Innovation Summit 2020

The Gear Innovation Summit took place in Halifax in February 2020, and included a trade show focused on technological solutions and industry innovation to mitigate ghost gear. The Summit provided an opportunity for harvesters, technical experts, non-government and government agencies, to share information and learn about innovative technologies and programming aimed to the prevention, reduction, and retrieval of ghost gear and reduce the impact of fishing activities on marine mammals.

What We Heard Report