Why can lost fishing gear keep fishing after nobody owns the catch?

The gear can keep doing what it was built to do

FAO uses the term abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear—ALDFG—for fishing gear that has left active control. Because some nets, pots, traps and lines continue to retain or entangle animals after they are lost, the gear can keep catching without anyone intentionally fishing it.

That continuing capture is commonly called ghost fishing. It can affect target species as well as non-target wildlife, and the effect can persist until the gear is recovered, breaks down, becomes buried or otherwise stops functioning as fishing gear.

The damage is not limited to what gets caught

FAO identifies impacts on fish stocks, endangered species and benthic environments, and also notes that lost gear can create navigational hazards. IMO treats fishing gear within the broader marine-litter problem because ropes, nets and related components can persist and move beyond the place where they were lost.

The exact risk depends on the gear type, material, location, depth, currents and how long it remains functional. That is why a single global estimate cannot describe every coast or fishery, and why local reporting and retrieval programmes matter.

• Entanglement or continued capture of marine animals
• Damage or abrasion to seabed and coastal habitats
• Navigation and vessel-safety hazards
• Long-lived plastic and synthetic material entering the marine environment

Marking and reporting help turn anonymous debris into accountable gear

FAO says its Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear were endorsed by the Committee on Fisheries in 2018. Marking can support identification, reporting, recovery and enforcement, although the exact system must fit the fishery and national or regional rules.

IMO’s current marine-litter work also covers reporting lost fishing gear and improving gear marking. These systems matter because recovery is easier to organise when authorities know what was lost, where it was lost and who is responsible for reporting or retrieving it.

Retrieval is useful, but prevention comes first

Retrieving gear can remove an active hazard, but recovery at sea may itself involve safety, cost, environmental and legal constraints. The better sequence is to reduce avoidable loss, mark gear where required or appropriate, report losses promptly, and recover gear when it can be done safely and under the relevant rules.

For readers choosing seafood or following a fishery, the useful questions are practical: what gear is used, what loss-prevention and reporting rules apply, whether retrieval programmes exist, and which authority publishes current guidance for that fleet or area.