B.4.1 Prevent, locate, retrieve and handle abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear

During fishing operations gear can be abandoned, lost or discarded - becoming marine litter. In the marine environment this equipment floats or can get caught up on either the seabed, habitats like reef structures or rocky outcrops. This ghost gear then continues to catch and entangle marine animals, act as transport or a vector for non-indigenous species and can also fragment over time into smaller particles, contributing to the microplastics problem.

This action focuses on ALDFG as a significant source of marine litter pollution. The action will address prevention of ALDFG at sea, its location, verification and removal, as well handling the retrieved fishing gear in a sustainable way, building on existing experience, linked to EU processes such as implementation of SUP-D (and related EPR-systems/collecting targets for end-of-life gear etc.) and be consistent with other international provisions such as the IMO regulations.

Under this action, OSPAR will secure effective cooperation among Contracting Parties to prevent, locate, retrieve and handle abandoned, lost, discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). The cooperation is intended to disseminate information of existing national- and international ALDFG work through the development of best practices addressing the marking of fishing gears, reporting, location/verification and their retrieval in an environmentally sound way with the aim to contribute to circular economy. From tha and where possible, additional joint ALDFG measures will be developed to further reduce this source of marine pollution.

The first deliverable from this action will be a gap analysis to see how the FAO voluntary guidelines are being applied in the OSPAR Maritime Area, and to inform a road map to fill any gaps