PL | EN

Dangerous and illegal fishing and ghost fishing gear

More than 100,000 people die each year in fishing-related accidents. According to a report based on research conducted by the Fish Safety Foundation on behalf of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the causes are abuse by fishing fleet operators, the use of child labour, overfishing, climate change, armed conflict and poverty. Private, artisanal fishing is also increasingly risky, for example, because of the migration of fish into deeper seas.

Fishing vessels turn off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), hiding up to 6% of global fishing activity. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered geographical hotspots where vessels turn off AIS (including West Africa, the Argentine coast and the Pacific Northwest). Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is likely taking place in these locations. They account for ⅕ of the world’s catches, causing up to US$23.5 billion of economic losses annually. AIS is not universally required.

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG)  – “ghost gear” – is marine waste, including fishing nets, ropes, lines, traps and other fishing accessories, mostly made of plastic. It is estimated that 500,000 and one million tons of this type of equipment are dumped into the seas yearly. Most of the waste can be attributed to the five industrialised fishing nations: the USA, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan. According to the WWF, entanglement or entrapment in ghost gear can affect 66% of marine animals, including all species of sea turtles and 50% of seabirds.

Read also
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
South Africa, where ⅓ of the population is unemployed, risks losing investment due to the “chaos” of the visa process and system failure. European companies warn about the lack of qualified employees, threatened development plans and the inability to create new jobs. In South Africa, there is a great need for, among others, engineers, scientists, […]
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
The seaside village of Oostduinkerke in Belgium is the last place in the world where horseback fishing is practised. Fishermen catch shrimp by riding into the water on horses. The animals pull chains, causing vibrations along the sandy bottom, and shrimps jump into stretched nets. However, due to climate change, there are fewer and fewer […]
AI in the electricity industry, steel production and child adoption
AI in the electricity industry, steel production and child adoption
ScottishPower Energy Networks uses artificial intelligence to locate better potential power grid faults caused by severe weather, mobilise engineers and keep equipment ready to solve problems even before they occur. The “Predict4Resilience” project estimates the possibility of failure up to a week in advance, considering historical and current weather forecasts. New York-based Fero Labs is […]
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
A national sport is developing in the Irrawaddy region of Myanmar, in a delta surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, isolated from other parts of the country and the ongoing civil war there. It’s lethwei, a brutal martial art called the “art of the nine limbs” because every body part can be used in an […]
Can psychedelics treat PTSD and climate change anxiety?
Can psychedelics treat PTSD and climate change anxiety?
Previous research has already shown that psilocybin and MDMA (ecstasy) found in mushrooms are safe and effective for treating PTSD, depression and alcoholism. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved them. And can psychedelic therapy help with fear of climate change, i.e. ecological anxiety and climate sadness? They differ from […]
Previous issues