Detection, Recovery and Responsible Disposal of Ghost Fishing Gear on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
The loss of fishing equipment is a major problem in the commercial fishing industry and has not only economic but also environmental repercussions. Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear or “ghost gear” includes various types of equipment used by fishermen such as nets, lines, ropes, floats, traps, and other fish traps that have been abandoned or lost at sea. Some ghost gear materials represent a major source of marine pollution, especially in terms of microplastics. In addition, vertical ropes represent a major threat to large species such as marine mammals that can get entangled in the ropes.
The project carried out by the Comité ZIP CNG thus aimed to (1) probe the presence of and recover lost fishing gear in the waters of several sectors of the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence using underwater ROVs and grabs; (2) improve the dismantling, sorting, and recovery system capacities, and circular economy capacities related to ghost gear and other gear at the end of their useful life; and (3) implement an action plan developed by the Créneau RSTM and set up a consultation table/working committee on recovery and disposal ghost gear on the North Shore, in order to bring together and mobilize stakeholders concerned with the loss of fishing gear, the accumulation of gear at the end of life and marine co-products (non-organic) that are not valued.
The project took place over three years, namely 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Data and resources
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Archive in Darwin Core format of species found in recovered fishing gear. Sampling events and occurrences are presented in 2 files.ZIP Open
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Description of variables and the construction of identifiers.ODS Open
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Description of activities carried out for the purposes of identifying and recovering fishing gear lost in the coastal waters of Sept-Îles, in 2021PDF Open
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Description of activities carried out to develop capacities for the recovery and responsible disposal of ghost fishing gear on the North Shore of the Gulf, in…PDF Open
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Description of activities carried out for the detection, recovery and responsible disposal of ghost fishing gear on the North Shore of the Gulf, in 2023PDF Open
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See the dataset on the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) biodiversity platformHTML Open
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See the dataset on the OBIS biodiversity platform (Ocean Biodiversity Information System)HTML Open
Additional information
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.26071/5f4a424a-e8c8-4307 |
|---|---|
| Temporal extent | 2021-01-01 – 2023-09-13 |
| Vertical extent | 11.0 – 95.0 m |
| Date (creation) | 2021-01-01 |
| Status | completed |
| Update frequency | asNeeded |
| Metadata language | fr |
| Projects | Comités ZIP |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 |
| Source metadata | ISO 19115 XML |
| Last updated | 2026-07-31 |
| Created | 2026-07-31 |
| API | package_show |