With lost and abandoned fishing gear accounting for 70% of large plastics in the ocean, Canada is stepping up to tackle the problem.
To mark World Oceans Day earlier this month, federal Fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier announced Canada will host the second annual International Fishing Gear Innovation Summit. The event will bring together harvesters, technical experts, other governments from all around the world.
The goal of the summit is to share best practices and innovative tools to prevent the loss of fishing gear, and minimize interactions with whales.
The summit will be held in February.
Since 2020 the federal Ghost Gear Fund has helped recover more than 22-hundred tonnes of abandoned or otherwise discarded fishing gear from Canadian waters, as well as 883 kilometres of rope.
