ORP Continues To Work With The Global Ghost Gear Initiative In Miami

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Last Updated: February 27, 2018

Recognising ghost gear as a serious threat to sea turtles, ORP have been key members of the Global Ghost Gear Initiave (GGGI) since its inception in September 2015.

 

The third annual meeting of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative took place in Miami back in October 2016 with participation from the fishing industry, research and funding institutions, government agencies and non-profit organisation. The meeting offered the opportunity to showcase GGGI achievements over the last year. Our founder Martin Stelfox was the build evidence working group coordinator in 2016 and presented the achievements alongside Kelsey Richardson from CSIRO. With input from many GGGI members, under the leadership of CSIRO, the group kick started the development of a data portal with an aim to monitor ghost gear hotspots, as well as types of gears lost. The aim of the portal is to have a central location for people to input ghost gear events online so that comparisons can be made globally.

ORP also sit on the catalyse and replicate solutions working group and our work at the Rehmangoth fishing community in Pakistan has been selected as a collaborative GGGI solution project. Project partners World Animal Protection and Ocean Conservancy are supporting our work in Pakistan to eventually create a fully circular-economy ghost gear project with the aim for replication into neighbouring villages. We are excited for this new partnership and already have made positive steps to achieving our goals.