Every year, 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in the ocean. Of these, 70% are abandoned or lost fishing gear, according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). These fishing gears constitute ghost fishing, a problem linked to rudimentary, unregulated or illegal fishing activities that threatens biodiversity, fisheries sustainability and navigational safety.

To address this threat, research institutions, marine wildlife rescue centers, port authorities, diving centers and fishermen’s and boaters’ associations have created a coordinated action network in the western and central Mediterranean. The actions of this network will focus on reporting this problem, gathering information and removing these dangerous drifting devices, as well as rescuing sea turtles trapped in them.

As a central tool for the coordination of this network, the Ghost Fishing project has been launched in Observadores del Mar, a marine citizen science platform of reference in Spain that integrates citizen data for marine conservation. These data, validated by the scientific team responsible for the project, will serve for the proper management of this scourge in the Mediterranean.

“Abandoned or lost fishing gear is a threat to fisheries, marine wildlife and safety at sea. We can all help to combat this threat, so we call on the public to report this problem to Sea Watchers,” says Ricardo Sagarminaga, head of the scientific team of the Phantom Fishing project and president of the Alnitak organization.

The action network is coordinated by: Alnitak, Hombre y Territorio, ICTS SOCIB, Equinac, Fundación Palma Aquarium, Save the Med, APERRS, Carbopesca. In addition, several entities are actively collaborating: NOAA – NMFS, USFWS, Nature Trust Malta, CECAM, CEGMA, ANSE, Oceancare, among others.

About Observadores del Mar

Observadores del Mar is coordinated by CSIC marine research centers (Institut de Ciències del Mar, ICM; Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes, CEAB; Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, IMEDEA; Instituto Español de Oceanografía, IEO; and Sistema de Observación Costero de las Illes Balears, SOCIB) and counts with the participation of experts from different national and international research centers. In total, a hundred scientists are responsible for validating all the information that citizens upload to the platform.

Observadores del Mar is also a partner in the LIFE INTEMARES project, which is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. In the Balearic Islands, the platform has an alliance with the Marilles Foundation, and in the Canary Islands it actively collaborates with RedPromar, to strengthen marine citizen science in all the islands.