Ghost Gear Report - 52

GHOST GEAR DETECTIVE

THE FIRST UNDERWATER CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMME
DESIGNED TO ADDRESS GHOST GEAR IN HONG KONG
Besides the modern high-rise buildings in this Asian city, Hong Kong is home
to nearly 6000 marine species, which is a quarter of all the marine species in
China. However, these valuable ecosystems currently face numerous threats
from rampant development, unregulated fishing practices, escalating marine
traffic, and marine plastic pollution. Among these issues, the problem of
abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear should not be ignored, and yet there is
limited information about the actual ghost gear situation.
WWF-Hong Kong is working to address the ghost gear information gaps as
an extension of their marine litter programme that started in 2013. They have
designed a light-duty scientific protocol that allows participants to document
deadly marine litter encountered during recreational dives. The
programme is called: "Ghost Gear detective, an underwater citizen science
programme".
A light-duty scientific protocol, as well as innovative survey equipment, were
designed to facilitate the reporting of ghost gear through an underwater citizen
science programme that works with the diving community to document their
findings. In 2019, 57 divers submitted 156 reports with 172 pieces of ghost gear
found. Their reports have contributed to a baseline overview of ghost
gear in the country, which allows to visualize the problem with an evidencebased approach.
With the success of Ghost Gear Detective, WWF-Hong Kong is further
developing the programme into an annual citizen-monitoring project. Aiming
for a self-sustainable reporting-retrieval mechanism, WWF-Hong Kong
collaborates with Hong Kong Reef Check, the largest annual survey of corals in
Hong Kong, to strengthen the ghost gear reporting system. Reef Check divers
are encouraged to submit their ghost gear sightings in their survey dives. These
reports will be reviewed by government officials to initiate retrieval operations.
This approach not only raises awareness within the diving community but also
provides a cost-effective monitoring approach for the government.
Apart from the reporting-retrieval mechanism, reducing the generation of
ghost gear is key to solve the problem. WWF-Hong Kong is asking for marine
protected areas (MPAs) to include more regulations on fishing gear. For

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