Question Period Note: Ghost Gear Program

Why is Canada not doing more to combat ghost gear?

• Canada continues to demonstrate leadership to address ghost fishing gear in our oceans, both within Canada and internationally.
• We continue to invest in the Ghost Gear Fund—including $10 million through Budget 2022—to support new gear technologies and ghost gear retrieval and responsible disposal projects.
• Ghost gear is estimated to make up to 70 per cent of all macro-plastics in the world’s ocean by weight and has a direct impact on fish stocks and marine ecosystems.

Impacts of ghost gear
• The term 'ghost gear' refers to any fishing gear that has been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded (for example nets, line, rope, traps, pots, and floats). Other common terms include abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear or ‘ALDFG’ and derelict fishing gear or ‘DFG’. It is a form of marine pollution that can be fatal to fish, marine mammals and other marine life, poses a navigation hazard, and may break down into other forms of pollution such as microplastics.
• According to the Global Ghost Gear Initiatives website, ghost gear is estimated to make up to 70 per cent of all macro-plastics in the world’s ocean by weight. There is growing international attention on the problem of ghost gear, as well as other forms of marine litter. For example, the FAO has recognized ghost gear as a major global problem since the 1980s. The 1995 FAO code of conduct for responsible fisheries and related technical guidelines include advice to minimize ghost gear and the responsibility to recover lost gear.
• Ghost fishing gear can cause large-scale damage to marine ecosystems through habitat disturbance and causes direct harm to the welfare and conservation of marine animals via entanglement and/or ingestion.
Canadian context
• The Canadian code of conduct for responsible fishing operations includes an expectation (guideline 2.8) for fish harvesters to ‘make every effort to retrieve lost fishing gear, reporting all lost gear’. The department collaborates with conservation groups and partners to rescue sea life that has been entangled by sea-based marine debris, and with the fishing industry to retrieve gear on an ad hoc basis. The Ghost Gear Program allows for a dedicated program to tackle the issue of ghost gear domestically and abroad.
• The current regulatory/licensing regime is prescriptive in terms of types, quantities and identification of fishing gear that a harvester can have on board their vessel and/or fish. Additionally, the location where a harvester can fish is very prescriptive. While these measures were intended to ensure compliance with quotas and allocations, they impede the ability of a harvester to retrieve gear which they are not permitted to use and/or is located in areas they are not authorized to fish. An assessment of DFO legislation is currently underway to ensure that any potential impediments to addressing and reducing ghost gear domestically are identified and addressed.
• Canada has been pushing to strengthen measures in internationally managed fisheries. There is support for this but also recognition that for small island developing states and other developing states that the measures need to also come with increased capacity domestically – both policy, social and operational (e.g. reception centres, reporting, etc).
• New requirements will be in place in 2023 for low breaking strength gear to be used in some fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. This gear is designed to operate safely and effectively under normal fishing conditions, and the implementation of these gear modifications during adverse weather and extreme sea conditions may result in gear loss. Industry members have highlighted concerns about the cost of lost gear, as well as the bycatch risks associated with additional ghost gear.
• Mandatory lost gear reporting has been a requirement in all commercial conditions of licence in Canada since 2020. All incidents of gear being lost as a result of the new gear requirements will be recorded by the Department. While DFO’s Ghost Gear program is not funded or designed to manage the implications of lower breaking strength gear modifications, it is positioned to help inform retrieval efforts as the need may arise resulting from low breaking strength gear implementation.
Sustainable Fisheries Solutions and Retrieval Support Contribution Program (Ghost Gear Fund)
• Through Budget 2022 under the Zero Plastic Waste agenda, the Ghost Gear Fund received $10 million to continue retrieval activities, and the testing of fish gear to reduce gear loss for fiscal year 2022-2023.
• A call for proposals was issued on May 4th, 2022 for this round of funding and closed on June 6th, 2022. The program is currently in contribution agreement negotiations with the 44 successful applicants.
• There is a lot of interest and capacity to address ghost gear as we enter our third year, but only a finite amount of funding. This fiscal year, the program received 104 applications, requesting a total amount of $51,781,188.23 in funding.
• All applications for funding were assessed based on the eligibility criteria provided on the Ghost Gear Fund website, using an assessment grid that enabled reviewers to prioritize projects whose applications best address priority pillars of action. Projects were selected based on the rank using the assessment grid, as well as ensuring there was a national distribution of efforts. High scoring criteria included harvester participation, indigenous participation, level of experience, and removal of ghost gear within the first year.
• All successful projects fall into at least one of four eligible categories: gear retrieval, responsible disposal, acquisition and piloting of available gear technology, and international leadership.

If pressed on why a project was not funded
• Since 2020, $16.7 million has been distributed to support 49 projects, and increased capacity at 36 harbour authorities, through the Ghost Gear Fund.
• The Department tracks lost gear reports submitted by harvesters to help inform retrieval efforts.
• Over 1,303 tonnes of lost fishing gear and more than 155 kilometres of rope has been retrieved in Canada, since July 2020.

If pressed on measures to retrieve gear lost at sea following Hurricane Fiona
• The Ghost Gear Program is committed to working with harvesters after Fiona to determine the scope of gear loss so that we can effectively target retrieval activities.
• The safety of our funding partners and retrievers is our top priority. Retrieval activities will resume when safe to do so.
• We encourage our harvesters to report their lost gear through the Fishing Gear Reporting System.
• With robust data, the program can allocate funding for retrieval work where it is most needed.